THE GOVERNORS: PROTECTING THE BARN

STATE and local political organizations generally work harder to elect a governor than a Congressman, and for good reason. A governor can dispense far more patronage, let more contracts and do more favors than can any U.S. Congressman or Senator, a fact that leads to the philosophy: "Protect the barn--the hell with the com fields." In last week's elections the Democratic Party did much better than the G.O.P in protecting the barn. The Democrats elected governors in seven states that had been controlled by the G.O.P.: Pennsylvania, New York, Minnesota, Connecticut, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico (they had taken Maine two months before).

The reasons for the stronger Democratic showing on governors than on Senators were mostly local or personal. One national factor was that Eisenhower's popularity is even less transferable to G.O.P. candidates for governorships than for Congress. Voters who saw a certain element of logic in the President's appeal for a Republican Congress saw no reason why Ike needed Republican governors. Thus the Republicans lost one of their great 1952 advantages, the fact that they controlled a majority of governorships.

In addition to New York's Harriman and Pennsylvania's Leader (see Pennsylvania), some notable victories were:

P: In Connecticut, 44-year-old Abraham A. Ribicoff upset Republican Governor John Lodge by a margin of only 2,800 votes of some 936,000 cast. Democrat Ribicoff, who will be the first Jewish governor in New England history, was elected to the Connecticut house of representatives in 1938. He was elected to Congress in 1948, re-elected in 1950. In 1952 he tried for the U.S. Senate, was a victim of the Eisenhower landslide. In this year's campaign, Ribicoff said "Nowhere except in the Democratic Party could a boy named Abe Ribicoff be nominated for governor in this state." In a TV appearance the week before the election, Ribicoff made an American Dream speech in which he recalled how, as a boy, he would "walk through fields heavy with the smell of summer growth, lie under a tree and dream . . . that any boy, through hard work, honesty and integrity, could aspire to any position in American life and reach any heights regardless of race, creed or color." This appeal had its effect. More effective, perhaps, was the fact that Lodge had angered some powerful G.O.P. county leaders.

P: In Minnesota, Democratic-Farmer-Labor Candidate Orville Freeman was elected governor in 1954 by being Senator Hubert Humphrey's campaign manager in 1948. Since his election, Humphrey has built a large and loyal following. This year Freeman swept in on Humphrey's coattails, beating Republican Incumbent C. Elmer Anderson by 42,000 votes. Freeman, an eager young liberal, is only 36. During the 1952 Democratic National Convention, Freeman fought hard and noisily to throw out the Virginia, South Carolina and Louisiana delegations over the party-loyalty resolution. Televiewers will remember him as an excited young man who stood atop his chair sputtering "point of order, point of order," while Sam Rayburn gaveled him down.

P: In New Mexico, Democrat John F. Simms Jr., 37, won an easy victory over Republican Alvin Stockton (G.O.P. Governor Edwin Mechem was trying for the U.S. Senate). A former speaker of the state house of representatives, he never seemed to doubt what the election outcome would be. He already has a legislative program in bill form--ready for immediate introduction when the legislature convenes in January.

P: In Iowa, where G.O.P. Governor William S. Beardsley is retiring, Republican Leo Hoegh, 46, beat Democrat Clyde E. Herring by a narrow plurality of 25,000 votes. Hoegh, a former state legislator and presently state attorney general, had built a reputation (and lost some votes in Mississippi River counties) by vigorous enforcement of state liquor laws, which permit only package sales. He also took a calculated risk in conservative Iowa by endorsing a law legalizing the union shop.

P: In Arizona, former Senator Ernest W. McFarland, Democratic majority leader in the U.S. Senate until his surprise defeat in 1952, made a comeback by beating Republican Governor Howard Pyle by about 10,000 votes.

P: In Colorado, 70-year-old Edwin C. Johnson, who is retiring from the U.S. Senate, beat his 32-year-old, baby-faced G.O.P. opponent, Don Brotzman, by a surprisingly low figure: 33,000 votes.

P: In Ohio, Democratic Governor Frank Lausche won an unprecedented fifth term by piling up a margin of some 212,000 votes over Republican James A. Rhodes.

P: In Michigan, Democratic Governor G. Mennen ("Soapy") Williams won a fourth term, beating Republican Donald S. Leonard by about 216,000 votes. Williams, plugging heavily on the unemployment issue, won Wayne County (Detroit) by a slightly smaller margin than in 1952 (263,000), but surprised by running only 47,000 votes behind Leonard outstate.

P: In California, Republican Governor Goodwin ("Goody") Knight easily beat Democratic Candidate Richard P. Graves. Knight's victory was not as impressive as those Earl Warren used to pile up, but no one expected it to be.

P: In Maryland, Republican Governor Theodore McKeldm was re-elected by 62,000 votes over Dr. Harry C. ("Curley") Byrd a former president of the University of Maryland who had invited votes of those in favor of defying the Supreme Court's decision against racial segregation in the schools.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.