Barkley's distant cousin, Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson II (grandson of former vice president Adlai Stevenson I), was considered his primary competition for the nomination, but had not committed before the convention. Richard Russell, Jr. and Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver were also interested in the nomination. Kentucky's delegation to the 1952 Democratic National Convention announced that they would support Barkley, and Truman encouraged Missouri's delegates to do so. Democratic National Committee chairman Frank E. McKinney, former chairman James Farley, and Senate Secretary Leslie Biffle also supported him. Two weeks before the convention, Stevenson advisor Jacob Arvey told Barkley that Stevenson was not going to be nominated and favored nominating Barkley. Barkley's advisors believed that Kefauver and Russell would knock each other out of the early balloting, allowing Barkley to capture the nomination.