Going into the 1970 Elections, Oklahoma was one of the "safer" western seats for the Constitution Party. Governor Dewey Bartlett had entered the governor's mansion in 1966 with a narrow victory over former governor J. Howard Edmondson and Republican D.A Bryce. In 1968, Bartlett and the Constitution Party of Oklahoma promised to endorse Republican senator John Jarman as long as the Republicans supported Bartlett in 1970. An agreement between the two parties was reached, and so, many felt that Bartlett was on the road to re-election. During his one term as governor, Bartlett began to make more conservative changes to a government once dominated by Democrats. Despite this, he also pushed for some amounts of “modernization”, notably ending Oklahoma’s prohibition law, which caused some controversy within his party, but was celebrated by much of the population. He also became a figure for more moderate politics within the Constitution Party, proclaiming that in order to survive, the Constitution Party must bend slightly to the center. While this helped his position with the general population, many members of the party were furious, and Bartlett faced a primary challenge from the much more conservative Reuel Little, who claimed that Bartlett had sold out to the Republicans and Democrats. Despite this, Bartlett won re-nomination from the Constitution Party easily. His next challenge was the Republican nomination, where he was challenged by moderate Oklahoma State Senator Henry Bellmon, who claimed support from many Republicans hesitant to back Bartlett. A primary battle ensued, and it seemed as if Bartlett's strategy was actually failing, as he was forced to campaign heavily in the Republican primary which also seemed to prove Little right in the Constitution primary. He still won both, but support was mixed.
In this climate, a strong, middle-ground Democrat could truly succeed. That man was expected to be David Hall, an attorney popular with the establishment. However, Hall was investigated for extortion during the campaign, and pretty soon he collapsed because of it. Instead, Fred Harris, a left-wing state senator with significant popularity with younger voters and Native Americans won the primary. He was seen as "too left-wing" for the party by many within it, and that lukewarm support hurt him in the general. Many swing voters alienated with Harris were willing to vote for Bartlett, as he was less "threatening" than other Constitution Party members and had promised to be a governor for all Oklahomans. But there was a reason why Harris had won the nomination in the first place, and it was not just youth and Native support. No, Harris had a penchant for grassroots campaigning, which helped him push hard against Bartlett, even with his lead in the polls. If things had stayed the same, Harris would have continued a catch-up campaign, and may have succeeded, but instead one of the more surprising candidates entered the race.
Well, he didn't really enter it. Stuart Hamblen, a former country singer and politician had retired to Oklahoma in 1962. He was noted for his support of temperance and runs for office in 1938 and 1952. However, he generally kept a low profile in Oklahoma, recording a few songs and eventual releasing an album in 1973 with a fellow politician. If things had stayed the way they were in Oklahoma, he would've simply stayed out of politics. Instead, Bartlett had decided to destroy the state's ban on alcohol, leaving Mississippi as the only state with a Prohibition law on the books. Hamblen, a former candidate himself decided it was time to step in. When he announced his campaign in early 1965 (only a few months after the repeal), it received little fanfare. Sure, he had returned to fame in the 1950s, but he wouldn't make a real change in the campaign. That was until major wings within the Constitution, Republican, and Democratic parties felt underrepresented. Hamblen decided to return to the old days of the Prohibition Party taking support from across the political spectrum.
The general election campaign was suprisingly boring. Despite grassroots campaigning from Hamblen and Harris, no major scandals or gaffes hit any candidate as the state went into election day.
At first glance, it seemed as if Harris would narrowly pull away with a victory. However, later results showed Bartlett successfully defending himself for re-election. A part of this was surprisingly Hamblen. Sure, it would appear that Hamblen's stronger-than-usual campaign would take away support from Bartlett, largely due to the Prohibition Party's shift to the right. However, due to Hamblen and Harris's similar campaigning styles, they actually split from each other. Hamblen managed to win Roger Millis county with 47% of the vote due to many within the county feeling that the overturn on the state's ban on alcohol was a major issue.
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In 1964, Dan Kuykendall, a little-known Memphis citizen and Constitution Party activist defeated incumbent senator Al Gore. Six years later, Tennessee politics was becoming much different. For one, while the Democratic Party had once suffered from internal splitting that lead to Constitution victories, splits were actually occurring on the outside of the party. However, they weren't the only ones. Kuykendall was primaried out of office by Thomas J. Anderson, a state representative who was politically to the right of him. Anderson claimed that Kuykendall was too close to the "Kefauver-Johnson Axis", noting the senator's decision to vote for Quentin Burdick when he was a supreme court nominee, and that seemed to be enough to throw out Kuykendall for most Constitution Party members in Tennessee. As for the Democratic Party, a heated primary between machine-backed former governor Roy Blanton and naval officer William R. Anderson ended with a narrow Blanton victory, largely due to machine support. However, it was clear to many that Anderson had enough actual support to run as an Independent. He did so, and began by attacking Blanton and the state Democratic party for its machinery and often corrupt politics.
Meanwhile, the Republican Party of Tennessee had begun to compete more and more against the Democrats and Constitutionalists. Splits in both had allowed for some narrow Republican victories in the past, and they had lots of power in East Tennessee, a historic region for them. In 1970, they nominated Howard Baker, a member of the House of Representatives and noted ally of powerful Oregon representative Mark Hatfield, who would take the reigns as Republican leader after Leslie Arends retired in 1971. Baker was known for his passion for compromise, which upset some more conservative Republicans. However, Republican leadership was able to calm conservative Republicans due to gubernatorial candidate Bill Brock, who helped them stay within party bounds.
The general campaign looked like a sweep for the Republicans as splitting within the Democratic party occurred and many more moderate members of the Constitution party began to oppose Anderson's nomination. One poll even had Baker at 45% against a very divided opposition. However, things began to shift wildly. For one, a number of Baker gaffes allowed for Thomas Anderson to go on the attack, which helped him bring back some supporters. As for the Democrats, it was clear that William Anderson was their real candidate. Support from Nancy Kefauver in the general election only proved this, and William Anderson began to pick up among black voters, who were historically a part of the famed Crump machine, or voted Republican out of protest if a particularly "controversial" candidate was nominated. Then, Roy Blanton was accused by state Attorney General Milton Rice of selling pardons for liquor licenses as governor, which effectively ended all of his support and caused many to go to either Baker or William Anderson. Labour Unions also helped, as due to machine-supported governor Henry Leob's poor relations with labour, they began to throw support behind anti-machine candidates, and in the senate election, most of that support went to William Anderson.
In the final weeks, it looked as if the election would be a showdown between William Anderson and Howard Baker. Thomas Anderson was attempting to rile up the base, but without more moderate supporters, it seemed useless. In the end, it looked as if Anderson would win the election and go to Washington with a strong anti-establishment mindset.
In the gubernatorial election, a similar situation was occurring. Incumbent governor Henry Loeb was hated by practically everyone, and machines were only keeping him around to retain control over the party, and even then he almost lost re-nomination. Democrats appeared split, and as a result of that, one of the stranger candidates in Tennessee history took advantage of the situation. That candidate was Nat Winston, a former country music singer, solider, pastor, and doctor, who ran a strong campaign based around left-wing Christian populism, some amounts of "state/Appalachian pride" that somehow did not veer into confederate territory, banjo playing at rallies, and a strangely progressive idea (for Tennessee) of improving mental health facilities and supporting rehabilitation centers for sexual abuse survivors (no he did not put those last two points in front of a banjo tune at any rally).[1]
Other than Loeb and Winston, Republicans nominated Bill Brock, a famed Republican activist who had gained notoriety for running Frank Carlson's campaign in Tennessee, which was surprisingly successful considering that Frank Carlson's campaign everywhere else was a disaster. Brock contrasted with senate candidate Howard Baker due to his more conservative positions, and was expected to cut into the Constitution Party's support. Speaking of the Constitution Party, because they cannot go away, they nominated Jimmy Quillen, who largely won the nomination due to support from the alcohol industry. Despite this, he actually ran an interesting campaign for a Constitution Party nominee. Seeing union support evaporate for Loeb and hesitant to back Winston, he decided to go after it for an election victory. He generally moderated his stances, while also campaigning hard in union-populated areas. This allowed him to build a coalition of "traditional" Constitution voters, working-class members of unions, and the occasional Republican impressed with his more moderate stances. This coalition of sorts put Quillen at the top of most polls, however, this ended when Ray Blanton's scandal came out.
Yes, despite happening to the nominee of another candidate in another party in another race, Ray Blanton selling pardons for liquor licenses hurt Quillen. Quillen's deep ties to the alcohol industry seemed increasingly obvious. They were used to attack him and especially hurt him among union voters, who increasingly saw him as a fat cat and not a candidate out for their needs and interests. Quillen could've rode his coalition to a shaky victory and with a few attack ads (and some harsh realities for more idealistic voters) it could've been secured. Instead, Quillen, fearing that he had already lost union support (and pressure coming from Thomas Anderson) decided to shift to the right, hurting him even more, as moderate Republicans also deserted him. Bill Brock then swung in, regaining moderate support and then creating attack ads against Winston for his pro-abortion views in rural counties. Winston's poll numbers also began to hurt and he failed to gain support from William Anderson, but he still maintained a loyal base of support.
Still, as the weeks went on, the election was a battle between Brock and Quillen. Sure, Quillen had dived to the right, and Brock was punching hard, but plenty of people in Tennesee were willing to vote for Quillen, and still more felt "unsure" about Brock. However, several gaffes from Quillen and killed him, and the election ended with a Brock victory.
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In many Southern States, a battle was brewing within respective Republican parties. While Republican failures in the South were expected to be exacerbated by the rise of the Constitution Party, the opposite occurred. With southern Constitutionalists often being more conservative than their western and northeastern counterparts, and Democrats either pushing to the left or attempting to retain politicians of old, Republicans began to run as a "middle ground" candidates or even to the Democratic Party's left. The only real exception to this was South Carolina, where the party was taken over by far-right politicians who felt the Constitution Party too moderate. South Carolina was promptly stripped of all power on the national Republican scene, and there was even attempts at creating a "
Independent Republican Group" in South Carolina. However, Arkansas seemed to be in the opposite situation.
As Arkansas was largely controlled by the so-called "Faubus machine", it was expected that the Constitution Party would dominate for at least the nest four years. They did, as incumbent governor Dale Alford won re-election easily. However, the 1970 election was about something different. Ever since Reconstruction, many Southern Republican Parties were controlled by "Black-and-Tan" factions, or biracial factions that were generally more left-wing than other Republicans. However, most of these factions were wiped out or ignored, except in Louisiana and in Arkansas. In Arkansas, the Democratic party hadn't been reluctant to support civil rights (unlike in Louisiana or especially Mississippi), but they hadn't necessarily accepted this faction into their party with open arms either. Instead, the Black-and-Tan faction held on bitterly, and in 1970, they nominated Daisy Bates, a noted Civil Rights activist who was drafted into the party. Her running mate was Jeff Dwire, step-father of future Arkansas Republican Representative Roger Clinton Jr. Dwire himself had run against Bates in the primary largely in the hopes of spreading attention for his business. However, he had become popular with more conservative (white) Republicans, and was chosen as Bates' running mate.
In the Democratic Party, an old face emerged from the political wilderness, and that old face was Sid McMath, a former governor and political liberal. McMath hoped to destroy the Faubus machine with a strong grassroots campaign, however, due to most black voters supporting Bates, he didn't have as much of a base as other Democrats in the South, who often did have large amounts of black support. McMath tried to work around this by offering Bates the position of Lt. Governor, but she publicly turned it down. Instead the race between Bates and McMath became one of focus in a landslide year. McMath decided that Bates would gain a majority of the black vote, so he should go after two groups instead. These groups were Arkansas gun owners, and new residents of Arkansas. See, Arkansas had a proud gun culture, and instead of appealing to it, Bates attempted to avoid the issue, due to personal opposition. McMath did not have to face that, and went after these voters with a passion. Meanwhile the state of Arkansas (along with many others) had been receiving many Northern workers with jobs in industries that had suffered in the late 50s/early 60s. As coal had begun to boom, they traveled down to West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. While this trend had largely ended by 1970, new residents were often more liberal than "native" residents of Arkansas. However, this attempt was attacked by Alford, who criticized it as appealing to new residents, not the whole state.
Throughout the campaign, Bates gained a reputation for speaking her mind, and with a solid base of support, began to overtake a struggling McMath. McMath heavily considered dropping out and endorsing Bates, but was stopped by the state Democratic Party due to fears of the party collapsing. However, that lack of confidence defined the McMath campaign, and he fell behind Bates for it.
