The 1952 Washington gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1952, between incumbent governor Arthur B. Langlie of the Republican Party and U.S. Representative Hugh Mitchell of the Democratic Party. Langlie won the general election, becoming the first Washington state governor to be elected to a third term.

Primary election

Democratic U.S. Congressman Hugh Mitchell announced his candidacy for governor on March 22, seeking to fix an administration that was "falling apart at the seams". By May, Mitchell was joined by state senator

Albert D. Rosellini Albert Dean Rosellini (January 21, 1910 – October 10, 2011) was an American politician who served as the 15th governor of Washington from 1957 to 1965 and was both the first Italian-American and Roman Catholic governor elected west of the ...

of Seattle, State Treasurer Tom Martin, Speaker of the House Charles W. Hodde, and Charles C. Ralls in what ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington ...

'' described as a "hard-to-predict contest" for the Democratic nomination. During various debates, Rosellini denounced Mitchell as a "left-winger", leaving doubts amidst the anti-communist wave of the era. Mitchell ultimately won the primary by a margin of 30,000 votes Incumbent Governor Arthur B. Langlie, who had been elected to two non-consecutive terms in 1940 and 1948, filed his intention to run for a third term on July 17 after returning from the

1952 Republican National Convention The 1952 Republican National Convention was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois from July 7 to 11, 1952, and nominated the popular general and war hero Dwight D. Eisenhower of New York, nicknamed "Ike," for president an ...

. Dr. John E. Lydon, a Seattle sanipractor, was the only Republican to run against Langlie and was not considered a serious contender for the party nomination.

Candidates

Democratic Party

* Charles W. Hodde, Speaker of the State House * Tom Martin, State Treasurer * Hugh Mitchell,

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from the 1st district, former U.S. Senator *Charles C. Ralls *

, State Senator from South Seattle and Majority Leader in the State Senate

Republican Party

* Arthur B. Langlie, incumbent Governor *John E. Lydon

Primary election results

General election

General election results

References

{{Washington elections

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

Gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

November 1952 events in the United States