Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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The Primary of Primaries — Still Not Over by D.G. MARTIN Carolina's primary elections. So far there is not much excitement. Sixty-two years ago we had a much different Early voting is under way this week in North remember that election and can tell you how the bitter struggle divided the state. Many of those who "remember" were not yet born in 1950. They know the story well because it is told over and over again and handed down from political generation to generation, sounding like an Old Testament story of God's chosen people battling the Philistines. North Carolina historians agree that the 1950 primary and run-off election experience. Voters came out in record numbers. Today, a surprising number of people still NEW EXHIBIT U.S. Senate primary between Frank Graham and Willis Smith helped define North Carolina politics. To understand today's North Carolina politics, learning about this contest is an essential task. For a detailed version, read Frank Porter Graham and the 1950 Senate Race a vacant U.S. Senate seat. Graham was, for the times, a liberal on race and social issues. So conservative Democrats recruited Willis Smith to run against Graham in the 1950 Democratic primary, the winner of which would face only token Republican opposition in November. Smith was a distinguished Raleigh attorney who had served as president of the American Bar Association. At the beginning of the campaign, both men enjoyed wide respect throughout the state — even from those who disagreed with them. Graham led the first primary in May 1950 with 48.9 percent of the vote. in North Carolina by Julian Pleasants and Augustus Burns, published by the UNC Press in 1990 and still available in most public libraries. In the meantime here are some basics about the Graham-Smith contest: In 1949, Governor W. Kerr Scott appointed UNC President Graham to Smith had 40.5 percent. In those days, unless a candidate reached 50 percent, the second place finisher could call for a run-off. At first, Smith indicated he would not call for a run-off. Then his supporters, including young Jesse Helms, orchestrated an impressive show of public support that persuaded Smith to change his mind. Smith's campaign faced an enormous challenge in the run-off — how to persuade large numbers of working class Democrats to vote for a conservative business-oriented lawyer. If these folks voted their economic interests, they probably wouldn't support Smith. In 1950 two things would persuade many North Carolina whites to vote his supporters' tactics, they played the race card. Flyers, newspaper adsand mail used crude inflammatory language to assert that Graham supported mix- ing the races in the workplace and everywhere else. And to a lesser degree, Smith's followers played up Graham's membership in organizations that were supposedly communist fronts. Graham refused to respond in kind. But his supporters attempted, without Jonathan Starling Premiere Party The Works of against their economic interests. They were race and communism. Smith's supporters used both issues. Although Smith distanced himself from Gallery 208 at 208 Rowan St., Corporate offices of Up & Coming Weekly and Graham sides is not over. It is still being fought, and it is not yet clear which side is really going to win. WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM is that several important recent political leaders cut their teeth in that battle. For instance, Jesse Helms worked vigorously on the Smith side and Terry Sanford took on one of the toughest precincts in Fayetteville for Graham. There are others, some still alive, who got their start in this campaign and still remember. But many more are indirect disciples of Graham or Smith, through political figures like Sanford and Helms. Perhaps the battlefront is quiet this spring, but the war between the Smith D.G. MARTIN, Columnist COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com APRIL 25 - MAY 1, 2012 UCW 27 success, to inflame voters against Smith's "big business" leanings. In the end, Smith's supporters' tactics won the run-off for their candidate. Why does the Graham-Smith contest continue to be significant? One reason Thursday, May 10 5:30 - 7 p.m. FREE, public is invited. Complimentary refreshments will be served. Presented by: