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West Virginia. In 1956 Republican Cecil Underwood, then 34, was elected Governor and thereupon became the pride of the Young Republicans. Ruggedly handsome, a fiery speaker and a cool debater. Underwood is campaigning to unseat Incumbent Democratic Senator Jennings Randolph. Using his sex appeal, his flashy oratory and such gimmicks as a helicopter-borne blitzkrieg through West Virginia's barnyards and mountain hamlets, he has won high praise from his audiences. His worst adversary is the state's chronic unemployment and the bleak misery south of the Kanawha River.
The portly, courtly Randolph is a more skillful speaker, with a genial approach, a firm handshake, and a trace of the snake-oil vendor. On the stand he uses his ammunition to the best advantage ("Jack Kennedy, within 90 days after he's elected, will sign the Area Redevelopment bill"). In informal settings, Randolph shines. Stopping at a roadside diner last week for a supper of country ham and redeye gravy, he charmed the proprietor, his son, the waitress and a Republican truck driver, then went to the kitchen for more of the same. With his beguiling ways and the issue of hard times, plus the support of labor, the liberals, and a slice of the business community (which respects him as a longtime official of Capital Airlines). Randolph is forecasting Democratic weather in November.
Wyoming. In a contest created by the retirement of Democrat Joseph O'Mahoney, the Republicans have their best chance of picking up a new seat. Keith Thomson, 41, an aggressive, hard-riding rancher and ultraconservative lawyer, is campaigning effectively against "welfare stateism as opposed to free enterprise." His rival, Raymond Whitaker, also 41, has overcome many of his .starchy, hesitant campaign mannerisms of the past, is plugging hard for federal aid to education. The bookmakers figure that Thomson, who beat Whitaker easily in a 1958 contest for Wyoming's only seat in the House of Representatives, will do it easily again.
* The 34th: a special election in Missouri to fill the vacancy caused by the death last month of Thomas Hennings.