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1954 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election

The 1954 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 2. In what is considered a crucial realigning election for the state, Democratic State Senator George M. Leader defeated Republican incumbent Lieutenant Governor Lloyd Wood, becoming the first Democrat to be elected governor since 1934.

1954 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election
← 1950 November 2, 1954 (1954-11-02) 1958 →
 
Nominee George M. Leader Lloyd Wood
Party Democratic Republican
Running mate Roy Furman Frank Truscott
Popular vote 1,996,266 1,717,070
Percentage 53.7% 46.2%
County results
Leader:      50–60%      60–70%
Wood:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Governor before election

John Fine
Republican

Elected Governor

George Leader
Democratic

Background

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Entering the 1954 campaign, Democrats had a dismal record in state politics, winning the governorship only three times in 24 elections; the party's stock had languished for fifteen years since the damaging administration of George Earle in the late 1930s.

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Campaign

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Leader was viewed as another mediocre if idealistic Democratic candidate, who had gained some statewide recognition for refusing to sign a loyalty oath circulated in the legislature at the height of the Second Red Scare. However, Leader was embraced by the growing reform wing of the party, of which Leader's father had been a member during his own tenure in the State Senate. A longstanding regional divide continued to haunt the Democrats in their primary, William "Doc" McClellan, a former Republican and vocal critic of organizational leadership, gave Leader a strong run for the nomination. Despite having only local name recognition, McClelland's sweep of heavily Democratic Western Pennsylvania allowed him to come nearly within 60,000 votes of an upset.[1][2]

Results

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Democratic primary results
  Leader
  •   30%-40%
  •   40%-50%
  •   50%-60%
  •   60%-70%
  •   70%-80%
  •   80%-90%
  •   90%-100%
  McClelland
  •   40%-50%
  •   50%-60%
  •   60%-70%
  •   70%-80%
Pennsylvania gubernatorial Democratic primary election, 1954[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic George M. Leader 306,688 52.75
Democratic William D. McClelland 241,226 41.49
Democratic Charles J. Schmitt 33,521 5.76
Total votes 581,435 100.00


Republican primary

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Candidates

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  • Lloyd Wood, incumbent Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania
  • Thomas S. Stephenson
  • Gordon F. Chamberlin

Results

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Republican primary results
  Wood
  •   40%-50%
  •   50%-60%
  •   60%-70%
  •   70%-80%
  •   80%-90%
  •   90%-100%
  Stephenson
  •   50%-60%
  •   70%-80%
Pennsylvania gubernatorial Republican primary election, 1954[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Lloyd Wood 707,133 73.99
Republican Thomas S. Stephenson 182,977 19.15
Republican Gordon F. Chamberlin 65,554 6.86
Total votes 955,664 100.00

General election

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Candidates

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Campaign

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Republicans entered the race firmly unified behind Wood, but facing the deep unpopularity of their outgoing Governor Fine, whose administration had been embroiled in several scandals and who had led the push for a much criticized new sales tax. Furthermore, a huge rift had opened in the party between the middle class-backed progressive and big business-supported conservative wings of the party. A national recession, which pushed Pennsylvania's unemployment rate to the highest in the nation also worked against Republican hopes of keeping their grasp on the governor's mansion.[1]

After his close call in the primary, Leader ran an energetic campaign, travelling across the state and actively engaging citizens at rallies. In the first gubernatorial campaign where a significant portion of the population owned televisions, Leader ran a series of speeches where he captured audiences with his charismatic appearances; conversely, Lloyd appeared too sluggish in his campaign, and the media chastised his television appearances as "terrible." Perhaps the most important factor in the race was Leader's own principled character and his commitment for reducing the presence of patronage that had long given state government a bad name; for this attitude, he earned the nickname Mr. Clean.[1][2]

Leader performed not only well in the Democratic strongholds of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Scranton, but won 34 of the state's 67 counties. His impressive win included capturing victories in many GOP strongholds. He captured over 60% in his home of York County, and becoming one of the only Democratic candidates for any major statewide office to take the state's rural, conservative center.[4]

Results

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Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1954[5][6]
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage
Democratic George Leader Roy Furman 1,996,266 53.66%
Republican Lloyd Wood Frank Truscott 1,717,070 46.15%
Progressive Henry Beitscher Alex Wright 4,471 0.12%
Socialist Workers Party Louis Dirle Frank Knotek 2,650 0.07%
Totals 3,720,424 100.00%

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c Kennedy, J.J. (2006). Pennsylvania Elections: Statewide Contests from 1950-2004. University Press of America. p. 112. ISBN 9780761832799. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  2. ^ a b Beers, P.B. (2010). Pennsylvania Politics Today and Yesterday: The Tolerable Accommodation. Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 9780271044989. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  3. ^ a b The 1955-1956 Pennsylvania Manual. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Bureau of Publications. 1956. p. 99.
  4. ^ Kennedy, J.J. (2006). Pennsylvania Elections: Statewide Contests from 1950-2004. University Press of America. p. 90. ISBN 9780761832799. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  5. ^ The Pennsylvania Manual, p. 728.
  6. ^ The Pennsylvania Manual, p. 727.

References

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