The 1950 Elections in Washington
| Author | Hugh D. Bone |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591295100400113 |
| Date | 01 March 1951 |
| Published date | 01 March 1951 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
93
but
also
the
number
of
county
and
municipal
candidates
elected.
There
was
one
significant
exception
to
the
Democratic
sweep.
For
the
first
time
since
1928,
the
Democrats
lost
the
governorship
when
John
Miles,
two-
term
governor,
was
decisively
beaten
by
Edwin
Mechem,
a
politically
unknown
lawyer.
.
The
long
time
significance
of
the
elections
is
hard
to
assess.
That
the
state
is
still
Democratic
is
undeniable;
but
it
is
equally
undeniable
that
although
Miles’
defeat
was
in
a
sense
personal,
the
voters
were
weary
of
a
relatively
small
clique
of
politicians
who
had
dominated
the
state
government
for
twenty
years.
Senator Clinton
Anderson
declared
a
few
days
after
the
election
that
what
the
Democrats
needed
was
a
new
face.
Whose
the
new
face
or
faces
will
be
is
still
unknown.
The
prospects
of
the
Republican
party
have
certainly
been
improved.
Whether
they
can
be
further
improved,
or
even
held
at
their
present
level,
is
doubtful.
The
answer
probably
lies
with
the
new
voters
pouring
into
the
state.
The
party
that
can
win
a
substantial
majority
of
them
can
win
future
elections.
In
any
event,
the
elections
of
1950
marked
the
end
of
a
political
era
in
New
Mexico.
After
twenty
years
of
almost
unchallenged
Democratic
control,
the
state
has
returned
to
the
two-party
system.
THE
1950
ELECTIONS
IN
WASHINGTON
HUGH
D.
BONE
University
of
Washington
The
Washington
blanket
primary
passed
its
fifteenth
year
in
1950
with
the
largest
turnout
since
1938.
Only
42
per
cent
of
the
registered
voters
participated,
however.
Contrary
to
the
expectations
of
many
observ,
ers,
the
1950
primary
showed
little
or
no
evidence
of
&dquo;raiding.&dquo;
Although
Senator
Warren
D.
Magnuson
was
unopposed
in
the
Democratic
primary,
loyal
Democrats
did
not
enter
the
Republican
primary.
Magnuson
received
only
34,000
votes
less
than
the
combined
vote
of
five
Republican
con-
tenders.
In
three
of
the
six
congressional
districts,
where
it
might
have
been
advantageous
for
Republicans
to
have
entered
the
Democratic
primary,
the
three
unchallenged
Republican
candidates
each
polled
more
than
all
the
Democratic
aspirants
combined.
The
open
primary
system
remains
generally
popular,
and
there
is
little
sentiment
for
replacing
it
with
a
closed
primary.
As
in
the
national
pattern
there
was
extensive
split-ticket
voting
in
the
State
of
Washington.
At
the
same
time
there
were
no
upsets
or
surprises,
To continue reading
Request your trial