The 1950 Elections in Arizona

• Author: N.D. Houghton
• Date: 01 March 1951
• Published date: 01 March 1951
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295100400110
• Subject Matter: Articles

91

will

go

down

in

the

history

of

the

state

as

the

most

scurrilous

since

the

almost

forgotten

days

of

the

bitter

Mormon

and

anti-Mormon

struggles

for

economic

and

political

position.

It

will

have

great

and

regrettable

repercussions

in

future

campaigns.

THE

1950

ELECTIONS

IN

ARIZONA

N.

D.

HOUGHTON

University

of

Arizona

In

the

primaries

of

1950

the

first

woman

ever

nominated

for

the

office

of

governor

in

Arizona

was

nominated

by

the

Democratic

party.

In

the

November

elections

she

was

defeated

by

the

third

Republican

ever

to

be

elected

governor

in

the

state.

In

the

landslide

years

of

1920

and

1928

Republican

governors

were

elected,

but

the

overwhelming

majority

of

Arizona’s

voters

are

registered

Democrats.

Governor

Dan

E.

Garvey

had

succeeded

to

the

ofhce

of

secretary

of

state

upon

the

death

of

the

incumbent

and

then

had

succeeded

to

the

governorship

by

virtue

of

the

death

of

Governor

Osborn

in

May,

1948.

In

November

of

that

year,

Garvey

was

elected

to

his

single,

full

two-

year

term.

Mrs.

Ana

Frohmiller,

Democrat,

had

been

elected

state

auditor

for

eleven

consecutive

twodyear

terms,

and

had

not

been

widely

considered

to

have

other

political

ambitions.

In

the

spring

of

1950,

however,

she

became

a

candidate

for

the

Democratic

nomination

for

governor.

Running

without

benefit

of

any

formal

organization,

surprisingly,

she

defeated

both

Garvey

and

ex-Congressman

Richard

Harless.

She

conducted

her

own

campaign

in

the

general

election

contest

without

much

support

from

the

Democratic

organization,

preferring,

it

was

sometimes

said,

not

to

be

bound

by

such

relationship.

Howard

Pyle,

a

popular

radio

personality

of

the

state,

was

nominated

as

the

Republican

candidate

without

opposition,

and

conducted

a

very

active

personal

campaign

for

election,

with

only

moderate

support

from

the

formal

party

organization.

Out

of

a

total

vote

of

some

195,000,

Mr.

Pyle

won

by

about

3,000,

and

it

is

estimated

that

perhaps

80

per

cent

of

his

votes

were

cast

by

registered

Democrats.

No

other

Republican

was

elected

to

a

state

office.

Thirteen

measures

appeared

on

the

Arizona

ballot

in

the

November

election -

proposed

consitutional

amendments

and

initiated

statutory

propositions.

All

were

defeated.