The 1950 Elections in Idaho

• Date: 01 March 1951
• Author: Boyd A. Martin
• Published date: 01 March 1951
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295100400108
• Subject Matter: Articles

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passive and uninspired. His opponent, Dan Thornton, a colorful cattle-
man and ex-Democrat from Texas, carried out a vigorous campaign and
won the voters’ support.
Senator Millikin retained his seat over Carroll by a majority of 29,282
votes, and the Republicans also captured the governorship by a margin of
23,496 votes. Slight Republican majorities were elected to both houses of
the state assembly. The Democrats were able to salvage two of the four
Congressional positions, and also elected candidates to the following offices:
secretary of state, auditor, and two positions on the board of regents of
the University of Colorado.
The election results do not appear to indicate any new and important
trends in Colorado politics. In the race for the Senate, the rural areas of
the state cast a rather heavy vote in favor of Senator Millikin, the more
conservative and better known of the two candidates. His state-wide
majority in 1942 was almost 48,000 votes; in 1944 it was some 63,000
votes, and in 1950 some 29,000 votes. In the two earlier elections, Mr.
Millikin carried the Denver district by about 7,000 and 10,000 votes
respectively; in 1950, he carried Denver (against a strong favorite son)
by 541 votes. Looking at the same figures in another way, we find that
Millikin received about 57 per cent of the vote in 1942 and again in 1944,
and 53 per cent in 1950.
If Senator Millikin’s vote-getting ability can be taken as a standard
against which to measure Republican strength in Colorado, there is nothing
in the results of the 1950 elections to indicate a trend toward the Repub-
lican party. On the other hand, Senator Millikin’s relative weakness in
the 1950 elections may very well be a direct result of his opponent’s
strength. Therefore, we may fairly conclude that Colorado voters, in the
future as in the past, will continue to vote into office those men whose
personalities and political views they like, regardless of the political labels
these men may wear.
THE 1950 ELECTIONS IN IDAHO
BOYD A. MARTIN
University of Idaho
In 1950 Idaho gave a majority of its votes to the Republican candidates.
With the exception of the Democratic candidate for secretary of state,
Idaho elected Republicans to all major offices: two United States senators,
two congressmen, a governor and seven constitutional executive positions
in the state government. The Republicans captured 30 of the 44 seats in
the State Senate and 37 of the 58 seats in the House of Representatives.
These election results followed closely the previously established pattern

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of Idaho. In off-presidential elections, Idaho has voted Republican 70 per
cent of the time. Fifty per cent of the time, in off-presidential elections,
it has also voted against the party controlling the White House. However,
in presidential elections, Idaho has voted Democratic 60 per cent of the
time since becoming a state.
Three parties-Progressive, Socialist, and Prohibitionist-which were
on the ballot in 1948, were absent in 1950. Only 204,792 of Idaho’s
325,000 potentially eligible voters (approximately 63 per cent) voted for
a candidate for governor.’
For twelve years Glen Taylor has played a controversial and signifi-
cant role in Idaho politics. In 1950, he was again the central figure in the
primary campaign. Although defeated in 1940 and 1942 as the Demo~
cratic candidate for the Senate, he tried for the Senate again in 1944,
and won the nomination by 216 votes over Senator D. Worth Clark and
the election over C. A. Battolfsen by 4,723 votes. In 1948 he attempted
to climb the political ladder when he ran with Henry Wallace on the
Progressive ticket for vice,president, but he carried only 4,972 votes or
2.3 per cent of the total vote cast in Idaho for that ofhce.
From the time he announced he would accept the vice-presidential
nomination on the Progressive ticket, his role in the Democratic party
in Idaho became a major controversy. The party organization divided. One
Idaho member of the Democratic National Committee denounced him.
He lost his patronage rights in Washington. Even the direct primary law
was blamed for his success. Although he had won his successes in Idaho
over the opposition of the Democratic...