The Daily Alaska empire., 1950-02-02
OFFICE SEEKERS
 PICTURE DEFINED
 AS BATTLE OPENS

The political picture in regard to office-seekers is already fairly well drawn, as filings closed last night with one exception: the hotly- contested battle for the post of Commissioner of Labor.
 Two Democrats and two Repub- licans have filed intention to line up for the primary battle for the job held by Henry A. Benson since 1946 Benson is one of the Republi- cans, the other being Ray Beach, who worked for Benson before going into the office of the Territorial Treasurer as cashier.
 The two Democrats are Alfred A. Owen, Jr., of Anchorage and Ross E. Kimball of Fairbanks.
 So far as the office of Treasurer is concerned, Henry Roden has been already elected merely by filing. No one opposes him from either party.
 The job as Congressional Dele gate, now held by E. L. Bob" Bart lett, is sought by not only Bartlett but Amer J. Peterson of Anchorage.
 Hope for Contest
 The picture on the Labor post was looked upon in political circles as personal feud on the Republican side of the canvas, while the Demo- cratic side gave hopes of giving Ben son a contest-if not in the pri- maries to be held April 25-then in the general election this fall. Benson won over Democrat Wal ter P. Sharpe in 1946, the latter be- lieved to have lost mainly because of an Independents pulling vote from him, plus the fact he had many enemies in labor ranks. Kim ball was the Independent.
 The outcome gave Benson slightly more than 300 more votes than Sharpe, while Kimball drew more than 2,O00. Many considered Ben sons election was obtained by Kim balls pulling votes that wanted to vote for neither party candidate. Kimball's pulling power as a member of the Democratic ticket is still considered too weak to upset the picture, and that Benson vii probably face Owen when this fall rolls around.
 This is believed true because an incumbent always holds the reins ill party race. But this fall Demo- crats have hopes because of a sharp division which has sprung up in labor concerning Benson's policies. But then. even in the primaries, an incumbent is difficult to oppose be- cause Ines there"
 Shows Popularity
 The Appointive Board, who placed Roden in office to take the post of Oscar Olson, who resigned and later was indicted for embezzlement, was congratulating itself this morning on having made him their choice last May. The fact no one filed against him, even for token resist ance, shows his popularity and in tegrity, they said.
 Roden in fact has held office and seats in the legislature off and on since 1913, only being defeated once when he ran on the same ticket as Bartlett for Delegate. He was formerly attorney-general.
 The Delegate post is not con- sidered a main event in political circles, because in 1946, when Peter son iran against Bartlett, he re- ceived only 4,368 votes to the in- cumbent's 11,516. No one sees how this picture will change.
 Peterson ran for general in 1948, losing to Gerald Williams by another considerable margin.
 Tomorrow The Empire will give it's readers picture of the House and Senate lineups, and following that, a roundup" of filings from throughout the Territory.