Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-08-12
The Political Mil
Lodge in Real Fight
To Remuin Governor
All New England Stotes
EIeeting Top Executives
By Gould Lincoln

GREENWICH, Conn.,, Aug. 12.-New
England'S stake in the 1854 elections
is considerable. All six of the States
will elect Governors. -Four of them will
elect Senators and one of them two
Senator'S. All win elect delegations to
the 84th Congress, and will elect State
and local officers. Connecticut, while
1t has no senatorial election this year,
has an important contest for Governor.
and some real contests for the House
Of Representatives.
John Lodge, Republican Governor,
has just returned after two weeks Of
active duty as q reserve officer in the
Navy. He was on duty in the Mediter-
ranean as commander and flew back to
Stunning his campaign for reelection
Immediately.
He has. indeed. contest on his
hands. The Democrats have nominated
former Representative Abraham A. Rib
icoff. popular younger figure in the
party who. in his race for Senator in
1852 against Senator Bush, Republican,
lost by only $4,000 votes Mr. Ribicoff
that year ran approximately $4,000
votes ahead of the Democratic ticket.
Connecticut gave President Eisenhower
a margin Of 100000 votes over Adlai
Stevenson in the presidential race.
Considered Fine Governor.
Governor Lodge. in the opinion Of po-
litical observers here, has made an
excellent Governor although he has
trod on some toes, as most Governors
do. In the race against Gov. Lodge will
be. it is expected, the perennial Socialist
candidate, Jasper McLevy, Mayor of
Bridgeport. and perhaps Miss Vivien
Kellems If she finally decides to run as
an independent Republican.
Her entry might be serious for Gov.
Lodge. She ran as an independent
candidate for Senator in 1852 and re-
ceived $4,000 votes. In that contest,
however, her vote had no effect on the
outcome, for Senator Purcell ran IS, 900
votes ahead of his Democratic OPP
ponent, former Senator Benton. Gov.
Lodge defeated former Gov. Chester
Bowles, Democrat. in 1850. by some
1900 votes.
There was talk at one time that Mr..
Bowles wanted to be the Democratic
candidate for Governor again this
year. If he did. he was persuaded not
to enter the lists, but to leave the field
open to Mr.. Ribicoff. Mr.. Bowles, it is
now expected, will be a candidate for
the Democratic senatorial nomination
to run against Republican Senator
Bush in 1856 incidentally, much may
depend on whether Gen. Eisenhower is
a candidate to succeed himself. The
President has been greatly popular in
this State, and he Is said to have lost
very little of that popularity.
Economy Is Issue.
Gov. Lodges battle with Mr. Ribicoff
very likely will turn on economic condi-
tionS in Connecticut. The State is filled
with industrial cities and towns. While
unemployment is not serious here to-
day. the fact remains that thousands
of workers are not getting the overtime
pay they received when the Korean war
was on and the Federal Government
was spending billions of dollars more
for all kinds of material for the armed
services. If business keeps up and en-
ployment improves and Democratic
prophecies that Republican control Of
Government would bring depression
are given the lie, Gov. Lodges chances
will brighten. AS of today, the race
appears to be close.
Gov. Lodge and his wife, who is an
Italian, are popular with the large
Italian population of Connecticut. The
Governor, too, is veteran Of World
War II, and that is working in his
favor. The Lodges, in their meetings
with Italian voters use the Italian
language, which does the Governor no
harm. The big so-called commuter
vote-the thousands of men and women
who reside in Connecticut but earn
their livelihood in New York City, is
preponderantly Republican. which also
will help the Governor. Mr.. Ribicoff Is
counting heavily on labor support and
on the independents who supported him
two years ago.
The State Is in the throes of the con-
struction of throughway highway. 1t
is much needed to relieve the Boston
post road and the Merritt parkway.
Residents on the route, however. have
fought like tigers and some of them
resent the Governor.
Questions and Answers