PENNSYLVANIA TAKES THE SPOTLIGHT

With the Florida primary over, first indication of the way the 1938 electoral straws will blow, the eyes of the politically-minded turn to Pennsylvania, where on May 17 the Republicans and Democrats will choose their candidates for Governor and Senator, as well as a host of minor officials.

Interesting for many reasons, the Keystone State primary will be watched chiefly for the demonstration that it will give of C. I. O. strength. The Democratic leaders, split wide open, are going before the voters with two slates. On one, Thomas Kennedy is running for the Bourbon gubernatorial nomination with the support of both the C.I.O. and Senator Joseph F. Guffey. Opposing Kennedy is a Democratic gentleman named Jones who, in 1932, committed the crime of supporting Alfred E. Smith over Mr. Roosevelt. Mr. Jones has the support of the regular Democratic organization which includes Governor George H. Earle.

Mr. Earle, running for the Senate, is opposed by the C.I.O.--supported S. Davis Wilson, Mayor of Philadelphia, who has changed his political affiliation so often that he is compared to the chameleon, with that versatile animal coming out distinctly second-best.

The Republican side of the picture is quieter, although Gifford Pinchot, without whose name no Pennsylvanian ballot would be complete, is opposing an organization candidate for the gubernatorial nomination. Senator James J. Davis, one of the tiny group of G. O. P. members left in the Senate, is conceded renomination.

Thus it can be seen that the real interest centers on the strength of the C.I.O. for if they are able to control the Democratic party in so politically vital a state as Pennsylvania, it is apparent that the new "progressive" party will make but little headway in industrial areas.