Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1934-05-03
ST. PAUL VOTE
IS ANALYzED
Voters in Capital City Have
Shown Inconsistency in
Past Elections.
Heavy Vote and Newspaper
Crime Scare is Respon-
Sible for FL Defeat.
BY HENRY G. TEIGAN

Republican politicians and news
papers pretend to find great satisfac-
tion in the outcome of the st. Paul
election which took place on Tuesday
of last week. They intimate that the
apparent election of Mark H. Gehan,
old-party candidate for mayor, by the
scant margin of 44O votes indicates
a change in the political trend in
the state of Minnesota.
This pretended satisfaction on the
part of the reactionaries has, how
ever, no sound basis in fact More
over, it is doubtful whether our enc
mics find as much satisfaction in the
results as they evince. A careful
analysis of the election returns tells
a story that ought to make Farmer
Laborites more jubilant than their
opponents.
A Strange Record.
To begin with, the records shows
that st. Paul voters have acted quite
inconsistency in elections during the
past dozen years. Farmer-Laborites
have not met with much success in
city elections while they have come
out on top almost without fail in
state elections. For example, in the
city election of 1922, William Ma
honey, labor endorsee for mayor, re-
ceived 1926 votes to 32,212 for Ar
thur E. Nelson, the old party NOM
inee. This election took place in
May, 1922. At the general election
the same year DR.. Henrik Shipstead,
Farmer-Labor nominee for United
States Senator, carried the city by
plurality of approximately 10000, and
Magnus Johnson, FarmerLabor nom
inee for governor, likewise carried
the city over j. A. o. Preus, Repub-
lican incumbent, by substantial
margin.
The same has been true in succeed
ing election years. In May 1880,
James NJ. Clancy, labor endorsee for
mayor, was defeated by Gerhard
Bundle by a large majority. At the
general election Floyd B. Olson,
Farmer-Labor nominee for governor.
led his Republican opponent by a
vote of 44,120 to 24,726.
Heavy Poll Aids Opposition.
The gains made by old-party can
didateS in the recent campaign are
in the main attributable to the heavy
vote cast. 1t is doubtful whether more
than 60 per cent of those eligible to
vote take an active interest in poll
tics. The other 40 per cent Of the
voters would prefer staying away
from the polls. 1t goes without argu-
ment that out of those DESTROYS of
active participation in politics, the
vast majority of them vote the Farm
er-Labor ticket. When, however,
methods are found to drag any sub
stantial number of the non-voting pop
ulation to the polls, the old-party
nominees profit most by such partici
patton.
The election on Tuesday of last
week showed an increase over the
election of two years ago of more
than $4,000. Nearly one-half of this
increase came from three wards
the 7th, 10th, and 18th, which gave
majorities to Mr.. Gehan. This in
crease went amost wholly to Gehan.
Had the labor wards been able to
increase their voting strength in the
same proportion that was done by the
conservative wards, Mayor MahOney
would have won by margin fully as
impressive as that when he defeated
Mayor Bundlie.
Labor Wards Stand Pat.
Taking two labor wards as an illus
tration we find that Mahoney polled
a larger percentage of the increase
than he received of the total vote
cast in those wards two years ago.
The LIST ward, which is populated in
the main with working people, gave
Mahoney 5,44S votes to 1917 for &C.
han. This ward gave Mahoney 4,447
votes and Bundle 2,944 in the cleo
tion two years ago. The total vote
increase in the ward was 1,344 of
which Mahoney received 971 or slight
~ more than 70 per cent of the in
crease.
The 9th ward is. however, a better
indication of the working peoples at
titude than is the LIST ward. The
latter is not wholly populated with
working people. The 9th ward is on
the other hand a workers ward.
Two years ago Mr.. Mahoney re-
ceived zoos to 1,138 for Mr.. Bundle.
In the election of last week Mahoney
received 2.744 votes to 1869 for Mr..
Gehan. The total increase in this
ward over two years ago was ST.
votes, of which Mr.. Mahoney received
GAG. This means that of the new par
Elephants in the election 70 per cent