The Augusta Courier

RACE FOR PRESIDENT GETTING CLOSER SOUTHERN

Record Reveals Republicans Got More Popular Votes Than Demos In '54

The race for President is getting mighty close in the South.

As a matter of fact, it is so close until the South could go either Democratic or Republican.

And it may be that the winning candidate will win in the South this year.

The vote in the South has been very close in the last few elections.

Record of Votes

In the eleven Southern "deep South" States, in 1956, the Republicans secured more popular votes than did the Democrats. In 1956, the Republicans received 4,203,150 votes as compared with 4,122,778 for the Democrats.

There were also 283,805 votes polled in these eleven States for the States Rights ticket.

SEE TABULATION, PAGE 2

Eisenhower carried five out of the eleven states.

As will be observed by figures which we are publishing on page two of this issue, Eisenhower carried the States of Virginia, Texas, Tennessee, Louisiana and Florida in 1956. The vote that year was very close in South Carolina. The States' Rights candidates and the Republican candidates received thirty-eight thousand more votes than did the Democratic candidates.

Six States Going?

In North Carolina, the Democrats won by only a fifteen thousand-vote majority.

This year, it looks as if the Republicans will take at least six States in the South instead of five.

Then, Governor Barnett has an excellent chance to win with his independent electors in Mississippi and if so, that State's vote will be withheld from the Democratic candidate.

If Alabama goes Democratic this year, the Democratic nominees will only get five of their eleven votes. On the ticket there are six independent electors.

Close In Georgia

The election between Kennedy and Nixon will be very close in Georgia and if Kennedy should carry the State, and the election should be so close until neither one had a majority, there are four candidates for elector on the Democratic ticket in Georgia who will go along with the independent electors from Mississippi and Alabama and cast their votes for a good Southerner.

The battle is so close in the South until it is possible that Nixon could run away with most of the states.

It isn't believed that Kennedy could possibly carry more than five or six.

A Big Vote Seen

There is going to be a big vote this year and when the popular vote is added up, it will probably be as close as it was four years ago.

Yet, at the same time, if the dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party continues to gather momentum as it has in the past few months, there is a possibility that the South, on November 8th, will rise up in righteous indignation and the politicians of the nation will be shocked at the results.