Evening star., 1942-10-09
BY GOULD LINCOLN,
Star Stan Writer,

OF articles on election prospects.
BY GOULD LINCOLN,
Star Stan Writer.
OMAHA, Oct. 9-"The voice of
the radio" has made and is MAX
ing itself increasingly felt in Ne
braska's senatorial election this
year. 1t is the voice of Foster
May, 37-year-old radio commen-
tator for the last .1oAyears.
To the surprise Of every one, Mr..
May won the Democratic senatorial
nomination in a field including sew
eral widely known Democrats-one
OF them Representative Coffee.
Early in the primary campaign few
people took Mr.. May seriously.
Some dubbed him "the little man
with big voice"
Mr.. May hasn't been on the air
for nothing He can give as well as
take. So he countered, II didn't
have very much to doswith the size
Of my body nor of the strength of
my voice, but that voice, you may
be sure, will always be raised in de-
tense of the underprivileged, in the
protection of true democracy, and it
will always be raised against those
forces which would destroy our
democratic institutions or our form
Of government"
Personality Friendly.
AS a matter of fact, Mr.. May has
not only an infectious voice, but a
friendly personality and a genial
grin. He gets along with people.
Mr.. May is still the unknown
uuantity-so far as actual political
voting strength is concerned-in a
three -cornered senatorial race in
which the veteran Senator Norris is
running as an Independent, and
Kenneth S. Wherry, former Repub-
lican State chairman, the COP can
didate.
There has been a feeling In
Washington and some other quar-
ters that Mr.. May. on the entrance
of Senator Norris into the. senatorial
contest at the eleventh hour as an
independent candidate, with the
tacit and probably later vocal bless
ing Of the Roosevelt administra-
ton, would fold up. Nothing Is
further from Mr.. Mays mind at
the present writing He says en-
phatically that he is not going to
quit and voices his confidence that
he can win.
He admits that his withdrawal in
favor of Senator Norris has been
suggested to him by three per-
sons, but as individuals. not as
spokesmen of the administration In
Washington.
Norris Won with Help.
In 1896, when Senator Norris was
last reelected, President Roosevelt
went all out for him, even making
a speech in Nebraska in which he
declared, for the veteran Progress
sive. That despite the fact that the
Democratic primary had resulted in
the nomination of firebrand,
Terry Carpenter, who declined to
withdraw. ..
The Democratic organization as it
then existed followed the lead of
the President in that fight. Sen
stor Norris won out. receiving 258,-
700 votes to 223,276 for the Re-
publican candidate, Judge Simmons,
and 108, ,391 for Mr.. Carpenter. Sen
ator Norris lacked a majority Of the
vote cast by many thousands.
Up to the present there has been
no breaking in support of the DeM-
ocratic State organization for Mr..
May, Notwithstanding the fact it is
understood that Washington wants
Senator Norris.
Despite the State pride in Sem
ator Norris. who has been in Con-
eress for 40 years, and his large
personal following, the 81-year -old
Senator is declared by neutral OBJ
servers to be in greater jeopardy in
this election than he has been for
years. In the first place, the State
went Republican in 1910 by $4,000
for Wendell Willkie, elected a Re-
publican Governor. a Republican
Senator and threw out five OF the
House delegation.
Mr.. Wherry. then Republican
State chairman, built up strong
organization and has kept it alive
ever since. There is the same meas
ure of discomfort with Washington
in Nebraska at this time as in other
Midwestern States.
Large Independent Vote.
There is a large independent vote
In the State. and even those affiliated
with the Republican and Democratic
parties wear the political collar
lightly. Senator Norris in the past
has garnered votes from all three
groups, but particularly from the
Democratic side of the fence and
from the Independents.
With Foster May running as a
Democrat, the Republicans figure
that their opposition will be divided
largely between Senator Norris and
Mr. May and that their candidate
should squeeze through to victory.
Indeed, they are saying now they
are glad that Senator Norris entered
the race-for they were beginning
to be worried by the strength OF the
radio man.
Senator Norris, however, has the
support of some of the Republican
businessmen, some Of the more con-
servative Republicans, for a couple
of reasons. In the first place, they
know him and they feel that 1t Is
not bad thing for Nebraska to have
A Senator so close to the administra-
ton in Washington. Further, some
of them do not like Mr., Wherry,
whom they consider a bit radical
from their standards.
There are rumors that Gov. Girls
void and Senator Butler are none too
friendly to Mr.. Wherry's candidacy.
Mr.. Wherry is good speaker and
mixer. He has been over the State
again and again in the last couple
of wears. He is a war veteran His