The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-11-09
Democrat Has Margin of Only
1S4 Votes.
Governor Race NarrOWS Down
to Official Count.
80 COUNTIES STILL TO REPORT
Seesaw All Day on Gain and
Loss.
Closest GubernatOrial Election
in Kansas History.

| George H. Hodges is elected governor
| of Kansas unless Arthur Capper car
overcome a lead of nearly 200 which the
johnson county senator now has in the
Kansas gubernatorial contest. The race
became closer this afternoon when Cap
| per made several material gains and
the Hodges majority in Jefferson coun-
ty was reduced to three. Official re-
turns have been received from about 20
of the los counties in Kansas. These
returns. together with unofficial reports
from the remaining "a counties, gives
Hodges $50 the lest of the contest. Not
until late tonight will official returns
be received from all counties.
That Hodges is leading in the fight
is conceded by Mr.. Capper himself and
by the workers in the Republican head
quarters. Capper's greatest losses were
in Wyandotte, Crawford, Montgomery,
Marshall and Ellis counties, where
Hodges showed unexpected eleventh
hour strength.
While Capper does not in anyway
concede his defeat, yet the figures both
al the various party headquarters and
tabulated returns compiled by Ihe
State Journal, show that the Topeka
publisher is $50 behind in the running
at 3 o'clock this afternoon. There are
slight disputes over official returns re-
ported to the various headquarters
from several counties. These con-
flicts, however, are not of sufficient
importance to in any manner seriously
change the standing of the two can
didateS.
The apparent close of the fight ends
the most hotly contest gubernatorial
contest in the history of Kansas. In
1904, E. w. Hoch was reelected by
about 1,400 over Senator Harris. AT
that time the Hoch-Harris fight was
more close than any previous COVER
norship race in Kansas. Now the Cap
per-HOdgeS race promises to lower the
1904 figure by nearly 1000.
Numerous reports of a contest have
been current today, but are not verified
by men in charge of either headquar-
ters Both Capper and Hodges sup
porters kept a watchful eye on the
official count. The Democrats claim
that in at least ten counties ballots
were thrown out by the election Judges
which were marked under the rooster
and then marked in the squares OPP
posite the names of the various can
didates These ballots, it is claimed.
should have been counted for Hodges.
On the other hand the Capper suppor-
ters have reports of ballots that
should have been counted for their
candidate.
Figures compiled by Arthur Capper
at noon today showed he was a little
more than $50 behind in the race. On
the other hand the Democrats claim
a lead of more than 500. These totals
are all based on partial official re-
turns from so to 20 counties and on
unofficial returns from the remaining
counties of the state.
Not until late tonight or Sunday
morning will the complete official re-
turns from all counties be received in
Topeka 1t is on the complete official
returns that both sides rely for a vic
tory. Capper still contends that he
will overcome the slight lead which
he says Hodges now has in the race
and that he will win in the counties
yet to report. On the other hand
Henderson S. Martin, chairman of the
Democratic state committee, insists
that the Hodges lead is far too large
to be offset by the official count and is
confident that the johnson county SEN
ator has been elected.
The tabulated Independent returns
from all counties show the following
majorities:
Tabulated figures compiled by the
state Journal show the following situ-
alton in the gubernatorial contest at IL
o'clock this morning: