The Dingell-Lesinski 1964 Primary Race

• Author: Harreld S. Adams
• Published date: 01 December 1966
• Date: 01 December 1966
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591296601900407
• Subject Matter: Articles

THE DINGELL-LESINSKI 1964 PRIMARY RACE
HARRELD S. ADAMS
University of California, Los Angeles
N
SEPTEMBER 1, 1964, two incumbent Democratic congressmen, John
0
Dingell and John Lesinski, were forced into a primary contest as a result
~-~ of the new redistricting law passed by the Michigan state legislature.
Parts of Lesinski’s former Sixteenth District and Dingell’s Fifteenth District were
combined in a new Sixteenth Congressional District. The Dingell-Lesinski primary
race attracted a great deal of national attention because many political observers
believed that the results of the race might give some indications of the extent to
which the so-called &dquo;white backlash&dquo; would affect the upcoming November general
election. During the spring and summer of 1964, Democratic party organizations
and labor unions expressed a great deal of concern over the possible defection of
normally Democratic voters in the industrial centers and surrounding suburbs of
the North to the Republican party because of the white voters’ negative reactions
to the pace of Negroes’ demands for equal rights. The Democratic party became
especially concerned after Governor George Wallace’s impressive showing in the
Wisconsin, Indiana, and Maryland primaries
Commenting on Wallace’s strong showing in Maryland, U.S. News and World
Report quotes a &dquo;political analyst with official ties and close to day-to-day develop-
ments&dquo; as saying that &dquo;the vote in Maryland confirms the evidence of voting in
Indiana and Wisconsin.... The people who voted for Wallace were, for the most
part, voting their dislike of racial demonstrations and their fears of the civil-rights
bill.&dquo; 2 Regarding the nature of these fears, as well as the type of voters holding
them, the political analyst was quoted as saying that &dquo;we are getting a powerful
kickback in Congress from regions that are heavily unionized and in which people
of foreign ancestry live. They fear that they might lose their jobs, that the value
of their homes might decrease if Negroes moved in, that the neighborhood school
might be broken up.&dquo; 3
Lake County, Indiana, is such a region where these fears appear to have
been, to some extent, translated into backlash votes. The county, a highly indus-
trialized area containing the steel and oil refinery centers of Gary, Hammond,
East Chicago, and Whiting, several large ethnically distinct groups (particularly
Poles and Italians), as well as a large concentration of Negroes, gave Governor
Wallace 42,712 votes to 40,185 for Democratic Governor Matthew E. Welsh.
Although part of the support for Wallace can be attributed to protest votes against
Welsh on such issues as the new state sales tax or the location of a new deepwater
port in neighboring Porter County, voting statistics suggest the need for some
better explanation, according to Hoffman and Strietlemeier. &dquo;It seems to lie,&dquo; they
say, &dquo;in the fact that every white precinct in Gary went for Wallace and every
1

Wallace received 33.7 per cent of the Democratic vote in Wisconsin, 29.8 per cent of the vote
in Indiana, and 42.66 per cent of the vote in Maryland.
2

"What Wallace Vote Proved in North," U.S. News and World Report, Vol. 56, No. 22
(Washington, D.C., 1964), p. 30.
3

Ibid.. P. 31.
688

---

689
Negro precinct for Welsh. There is no evidence to suggest that white and Negro
voters hold opposing views on the sales tax, a deepwater port in Porter County, or
Governor Welsh.&dquo;
4
Like Lake County, Indiana, the new Michigan Sixteenth Congressional Dis-
trict is a highly industrialized area containing, among other industries, the huge
Ford River Rouge plant, Great Lakes Steel, and the Wyandotte Chemical Cor-
poration. Moreover, the district is widely unionized, and contains several sizable
ethnic communities, the Polish-American community being particularly large. Un-
like Lake County, the Negro population of the Sixteenth is relatively small5 and
is concentrated in pockets in the northeastern part of the district. Significantly,
however, the Sixteenth borders on Detroit with its large concentrations of Negroes.
There is, as a result, widespread fear in the Sixteenth of a &dquo;black invasion&dquo; from
Detroit. This fear is particularly prevalent in Dearborn, a city of approximately
120,000 with virtually no Negro residents.
The Sixteenth Congressional District also presents a particularly ideal setting
for the study of potential white backlash because of the nature of the Dingell-
Lesinski race itself. Both candidates were well-known Democratic incumbents of
long standing in a safe Democratic area; 6both were Polish-Americans active in the
Polish-American community; Lesinski voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Act;
Dingell voted for the Act. Thus, the voters were confronted with a fairly clearcut
situation; since both candidates had roughly the same credentials, their opposite
stand on the Civil Rights Act took on added significance as a voting determinant.
At it turned out, Dingell won by a vote of 30,801 to 25,630 for Lesinski.
Dingell’s success in this potentially backlash district led many to conclude that
the actual effect which white backlash might have on the upcoming presidential
race was perhaps exaggerated. The New York Times reported &dquo;political sources&dquo;
as saying that, &dquo;any backlash would probably make itself felt on the local level,
where the issue might be more specifically drawn, than in a statewide or national
election. 117 These same sources are quoted as saying that &dquo;the defeat of Lesinski
showed that other considerations could override the racial issues.&dquo; 8
4
Victor Hoffman and John Strietelmeier, "Gary’s Rank-and-File Reaction," Reporter, 31
(September 10, 1964), 29.
5
Negroes constitute only 9.4 per cent of the total population, according to the New York
Times, September 2, 1964, p. 26.
6
Dingell had been a member of the House since the beginning of the 84th Congress when he
ran successfully to succeed his father. Lesinski succeeded his father in the 82nd Con-
gress, and had ran successfully ever since.
7
David R. Jones, "Lesinski, Rights Bill Opponent Defeated in Michigan Primary," New York
Times, September 3, 1964, p. 14. Perhaps the conclusion that backlash would be more
determinative on the local level is based upon the...