The Evening Star (September 10, 1946)
GOP in Connecticut names Gov. Baldwin as Senate candidate
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – Connecticut Republicans today unanimously nominated a state ticket headed by Gov. Raymond E. Baldwin as the nominee for senator and Dr. James L. McConaughy, retired Wesleyan University president, as the gubernatorial candidate.
A threatened contest on the convention floor over the gubernatorial nomination was averted by the withdrawal of Rep. Talbot, who conceded he couldn’t win after a nose count of delegates shortly before the nominating session opened.
Decided not to retire
Gov. Baldwin, who recently reversed a decision to retire from politics in order to seek the Senate seat, was nominated for a full six-year term and for the unexpired portion of the term of the late Sen. Maloney, Democrat.
The seat is now held by Adm. Thomas C. Hart, Republican, appointed last year by Gov. Baldwin to serve until the November elections.
The convention was keynoted by Harold E. Strassen, former governor of Minnesota, who asserted last night that the Democratic national administration had “failed tragically” in the task of postwar leadership.
Attacks administration
Mr. Stassen, widely discussed as a possible Republican presidential candidate in 1948, devoted much of his address to the international picture. He said there had been a “sad deterioration” since the United Nations was founded in San Francisco, a meeting he attended as a United States delegate. “It is clear that the unyielding and intransigence of Russia has been a major cause,” he said, “but it is equally clear that our administration has not been blameless.
Terming Connecticut one of “the crucial areas” and the coming election campaign as “of major significance,” Mr. Stassen said that with the outstanding leadership of Gov. Raymond E. Baldwin there was an “excellent prospect” that Republicans would win.
Mr. Stassen arrived here today to participate in an open forum discussion of atomic energy tonight.