Evening star., 1952-11-05
Labor Unions Suffer
Worst Political Defeat
In Republican Sweep
BY jones Y. Newton

~ OASoAAGCu AdUOI, SOl1Qly DdCk-
Ing Gov, Stevenson and many
Democratic congressional candi.
dates, has suffered its biggest po.
htlcal defeat in the Eisenhower
sweep.
The unions tossed their support
as they never had before to the
Democratic presidential candidate
They lost not only the big one
but many of their friends in Con-
gresS were beaten, too. The SEC.
ton tended to prove the i'm
potency of the labor vote" as
such.
Both the C1O and the American
Federation of Labor formally in
dorsed Gov. Stevenson. Most OF
the big independent unions, such
as John L. Lewis Mine Workers
and a majority of the operating
railroad brotherhoodS followed
suit. For the AFL it was the first
time its convention ever had in
dorsed a presidential candidate
They worked hard. but futilely
in most instances.
Lewis Wins Two Detectives.
There were. from labor's stand
point, some bright spots. Mr..
Lewis won his primary objective
in the defeat of Rush D. Holt, the
Republican candidate for Gov
ernor in West Virginia. He also
attained his No. 2 objective in the
election of Senator Kilgore, DEM
ocrat, of West Virginia, over
Chapman Revercomb, former Sem
ator.
1t was generally believed that
the principal reason Mr.. Lewis
threw his support to Gov. Steven
son was to help out the Demo-
cratic ticket in West Virginia, the
Nations biggest coal mining State.
Long before the Stevenson in
dorsement, Mr.. Lewis had sched-
uled his first formal political
speeches in West Virginia in be-
half Of the Democratic candidates.
He made two speeches there and
none outside of the State. He re-
served most of his harsh words
Tor MI. Holt, whom he character
lied in well-known labor verbiage
as the yellow dog candidate for
Governor" Mr.. Holt served as a
Democrat in the 193Os. but
switched party affiliations in re-
cent years.
3 Candidates Successful.
Out in Michigan. labor lost two
big friends in the apparent defeat
OF Senator Moody. Democrat, and
OF the two-time Democratic Gov
ernor, G. Mennen Williams.
Both Gov. Williams and Senator
Moody had the solid support of the
C1O United Automobile Workers.
which in recent years had been a
power in Michigan politics.
On the winning side, labor sup
ported three successful senatorial
candidates who were engaged in
hot races. These were. w. Stuart
Symlngton in Missouri, Repre-
sentative Jackson in Washington
and Representative Mansfield in
Montana.
In nearly every other contest of
national Importance, labor lost out
in its fight to return or elect
friends" to Congress. The unions
fought hard and futilely against
such Republicans as Senator Nc
Carthy in Wisconsin and Senator
Jenner in Indiana. The same was
true of efforts to beat Senator
Bricker in Ohio with Michael v.
Disable, former price stabilizer.
Political Groups Most Active.
The CIO Political Action Com
mittee and the AFL's League for
Political Education were in the
fight to the hilt. So were Mr..
Lewis bor's Partisan
League. and the political organ
izations of the rail brotherhoods
and the AF'L International Associ-
alton of MachiniStS.
The unions even set up a special
committee to work for the Demo-
Gratis. This was the Labor Com
mittee for Stevenson and Spark
man, headed by George M. Har-
rison. AFL vice president and head
of the Brotherhood of Railway
Clerks.
CIO President Philip Murray,
Mr.. Harrison and many other la
Dor leaders took the stump" for
Gov. Stevenson. The unions paid
for radio and television time fo1
Gov. Stevenson and other Demo-
cratic candidates.
But. by and large, labor was
unable to swing the votes in the
big industrial centers of the coun-
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