Volume 9 , Issue 45

1950s Politics In Oklahoma

Let us take you back to Oklahoma's politics of the 1950's when Democrat, J. Howard Edmondson was Governor and was trying to redistrict the voters to reflect the growing urban population. He was also trying to do away with the County Commissioner's jobs for each of the counties and put it under a state department control.

Why this story in The Chronicles of Oklahoma, Vol. LXXXV, Number 2, Summer 2007, interested this NW Okie is because it mentioned my Dad, Gene McGill, the outspoken rural Democrat. The story was entitled "Economic Stagnation & Political Corruption in 1950s in Oklahoma."

On page 193 it mentions Governor J. Howard Edmondson pushing for a redistricting plan that would reflect a growing urban population. This measure, along with other threatening measures would threaten the traditional political influence of the rural areas of the state, where the old guard of the Democratic Party had its greatest strength. While rural legislators fought Edmondson, he removed the patronage appointments of his predecessors as quickly as possible, further alienating the old guard.

The Old Guard of the Democratic party retaliated by electing Gene McGill, an outspoken enemy of Edmondson, to be party chair. The standing tradition back then was that the governor named the party head. All of Edmondson's hopes went down in flames as voters rejected both reapportionment and reallocation of highway funds by better than two-to-one majorities in September 1960.

Following this defeat, Edmondson's opponents ruthlessly exploited his political vulnerability. Edmondson fought bitterly with the legislature for the final two years of his term, causing gridlock.

Maybe some of you might remember my father and his fight for the rural voters representation. Thanks to the "outspoken" Gene McGill, rural voters and legislaturers were able to defeat Governor Edmondson's threats.
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