Legitimacy Restored

In the course of nine years as a Cleveland judge, four as the city's mayor, ten as Governor of Ohio and twelve as a U.S. Senator, Frank John Lausche achieved a pre-eminence in his state's political pantheon unmatched since the demise of Robert Taft. Lausche also be came crusty, overbearing and -- more heinous yet to the Democratic stalwarts who had so long voted him into office --often treated his party like the bastard at the wedding. Last week his inde pendence bore him bitter fruit: Ohio's Democratic voters kicked him out.

Senator Lausche, 72, had been considered unbeatable. Even Congressman Robert Taft, Jr., son of the late Mr. Republican, chose not to challenge Lausche this year, despite early polls hinting that he might be vincible. But while his proven ability to grab Republican votes discouraged the G.O.P., it enraged Lausche's fellow Democrats. As for Lausche, his acerbic disdain for party functions and factions, his baiting of the labor leaders who command much of the Democrats' mooted Ohio strength, and his conservative Senate record led Democratic State Chairman Morton Neipp to predict in November: "I feel that if labor works hard, goes all out, Lausche can be beaten."

He Was. Labor did work hard, and so did the party leadership's subsequent choice. Red-haired John Joyce Gilligan, 47, a former Congressman and Cincinnati city councilman, whose brains, liberal views and Democratic loyalty prompted the campaign tag, "the real Democrat," campaigned assiduously, while Lausche--in his own words--sometimes "fiddled around."

Gilligan indefatigably used television, getting support from the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s

COPE, which assessed its 800,000 members an extra nickel a month. Lausche addressed Republican-oriented partisans at Rotary Clubs and other limited gatherings. When the ballots were counted, Gilligan had 560,980 to Lausche's 435,367 in a thumping Democratic primary vote. Now Gilligan faces Attorney General William B. Saxbe, 51, a tobacco-chewing G.O.P. professional who commands a wide moderate following and has played golf with his defeated friend, Frank Lausche.

In retrospect, the first big hint of Lausche's political life expectancy came last year when the Governor's protege, Cleveland's mayor, Ralph Locher, was turned out by Carl Stokes, first Negro to assume command of a major American city. As Lausche's reign crumpled last week, a new dynasty was dawning about the personable Stokes. His older brother Louis, 43, became the Democratic congressional nominee in Cleveland's 21st District by topping a 14-man field, with 28,680 votes to his nearest rival's 15,110. Lou Stokes, who will face Negro Republican Charles P. Lucas in the fall, adopted the campaign slogan: "Another Stokes for the Same Folks."

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