(2 of 2)
¶ In New Mexico, Democrat John F. Simms Jr., 37, won an easy victory over Republican Alvin Stockton (G.O.P. Governor Edwin Mechem was trying for the U.S. Senate). A former speaker of the state house of representatives, he never seemed to doubt what the election outcome would be. He already has a legislative program in bill form—ready for immediate introduction when the legislature convenes in January.
¶ In Iowa, where G.O.P. Governor William S. Beardsley is retiring, Republican Leo Hoegh, 46, beat Democrat Clyde E. Herring by a narrow plurality of 25,000 votes. Hoegh, a former state legislator and presently state attorney general, had built a reputation (and lost some votes in Mississippi River counties) by vigorous enforcement of state liquor laws, which permit only package sales. He also took a calculated risk in conservative Iowa by endorsing a law legalizing the union shop.
¶ In Arizona, former Senator Ernest W. McFarland, Democratic majority leader in the U.S. Senate until his surprise defeat in 1952, made a comeback by beating Republican Governor Howard Pyle by about 10,000 votes.
¶ In Colorado, 70-year-old Edwin C. Johnson, who is retiring from the U.S. Senate, beat his 32-year-old, baby-faced G.O.P. opponent, Don Brotzman, by a surprisingly low figure: 33,000 votes.
¶ In Ohio, Democratic Governor Frank Lausche won an unprecedented fifth term by piling up a margin of some 212,000 votes over Republican James A. Rhodes.
¶ In Michigan, Democratic Governor G. Mennen ("Soapy") Williams won a fourth term, beating Republican Donald S. Leonard by about 216,000 votes. Williams, plugging heavily on the unemployment issue, won Wayne County (Detroit) by a slightly smaller margin than in 1952 (263,000), but surprised by running only 47,000 votes behind Leonard outstate.
¶ In California, Republican Governor Goodwin ("Goody") Knight easily beat Democratic Candidate Richard P. Graves. Knight's victory was not as impressive as those Earl Warren used to pile up, but no one expected it to be.
¶ In Maryland, Republican Governor Theodore McKeldm was re-elected by 62,000 votes over Dr. Harry C. ("Curley") Byrd a former president of the University of Maryland who had invited votes of those in favor of defying the Supreme Court's decision against racial segregation in the schools.