| Popis: |
WITH Congressman-elect Richard G. Shoup, Attorney General Robert Woodall, and incumbent Railroad and Public Service Commissioner Alfred C. Langly being the only Republicans to hold major state office, Republicans have only a tenuous hold remaining on Montana state politics. The Democrats have retained control of the Montana Senate by a five-vote margin (30-25), a margin of control they have maintained for the past two biennial elections. The Democrats, however, have gained on the Republican margin of control in the state House of Representatives, cutting the Republican margin to only six votes (49-55). This represents one of the smallest margins of control for Republicans in the House during this century.' The turnout of 254,790 or 78.1 percent of those registered constitutes one of the lowest in the past decade. Those voting, however, participated in the political upset of this century. After trailing by a margin of from 2,000 to 3,000 votes, Republican Richard G. Shoup surged ahead of incumbent Democrat Arnold Olsen sixteen hours after the polls closed to defeat the incumbent Congressman with a total of 64,388 votes, a slim majority, 50.6 percent of the 127,563 total votes cast in the First Congressional District.2 Shoup carried fourteen of the twenty-four counties in the western district. Such a victory can hardly be described as a mandate, but the dark-horse Republican won an election that few save himself |
