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Earl faced heavy opposition—notably from DeLesseps ("Chep") Morrison, reform mayor of New Orleans, and Francis Grevemberg, the racket-busting state police superintendent. But Earl's opponents decided to campaign mostly by TV, and this gave Earl an opening. Although he had suffered a heart attack in 1950, Earl did not spare himself. Month after month he ranged the state, six to eight speeches a day, spit and scratch, handing out free hams and groceries, bringing on the hillbilly boys, whooping it up in the backwoods to break the monotony of rural life. There are 64 parishes (counties) in Louisiana, and Earl Long carried all but Orleans and nearby Plaquemines.
Upstate, Chep Morrison, a Catholic, failed to make headway against an old tradition that a Catholic cannot be elected governor of Louisiana. In New Orleans, which Morrison expected to sweep, he barely skimmed through on top; analysis of the vote showed that a lot of the Negroes unexpectedly chose Long as "the poor man's friend."
"No One Except Me." In his hotel suite in New Orleans last week, Earl looked ahead to four more years of jousting for "the common, ordinary man." Earl, who was loyal to Adlai Stevenson in 1952, talked about national politics: "I don't want no more Republicans ... I just think Republicanism is upside down. If we have a good presidential candidate, Louisiana will go Democratic again this year." Earl hoped that President Eisenhower would not run because "he might accidentally win." Red-eyed and frog-voiced, dog-tired, Earl Long concluded his account of last week's election: "I got votes from the poor, the middle class and the rich class, and from thousands of our fine colored people. I never let up speaking. I feel very humble. I am deeply grateful for the confidence that the fine men and women in all walks of life placed in me by electing me a third time. No one has ever done it in Louisiana except me."
No one who knew Earl Long doubted that this boast was directed to the memory of the brother he loved and hated.