Article originally featured in The Everett Daily Herald on November 7, 1934. View text from the article provided by newspapers.com below.
Article text provided by Newspapers.com.
Demos Increase Strength in Both Houses and in States
WASHINGTON, Nov. 7—(AP)—A new deal sweep that apparently carried away even that solid rock of republicanism, Reed of Pennsylvania, gave to Franklin D. Roosevelt and his party today a victory unprecedented in the history of “off-year” elections.
Far from losing ground, as a party usually does two years after a presidential landslide, the jubilant democrats counted these results of yesterday’s elections:
- Senator David A. Reed, of Pennsylvania, quintessence of G. O. P. conservatism, and unrelenting enemy of the new deal, ran amazingly behind Joseph F. Guffey, democrat, who hailed President Roosevelt as “God’s inspired servant.”
- Toppling a half dozen republican senators, the democrats bid fair to increase their strength from 60 to 70, out of a total membership of 96.
- Apparently, they not only were holding the smashing majority of 196 in the house of representatives but were in a fair way to increase it a few seats. Almost everyone had figured the party to lose at least some seats in the house.
- The number of democratic governors, now standing at 38, seemed likely to be boosted as the tide swept relentlessly over the country.
Upton Sinclair, socialist-turned-democrat, whose unprecedented race for the California governorship stirred a host of more conservative folk to something like a frenzy, lost by a substantial margin to Frank F. Merriam, republican. Sinclair got a cold shoulder from the Roosevelt administration. Merriam has said he would “co-operate” with the new deal.
