Tag: Governor William Marland

August 5, 1958: Jennings Randolph Defeats Former Gov. William Marland in Democratic Primary

 On August 5, 1958, Jennings Randolph defeated former Governor William Marland in a Democratic primary. The special election was part of a process to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death of Matthew Neely. In the general election, Randolph beat incumbent Senator Chapman Revercomb, who had been appointed temporarily to fill Neely’s seat.

Jennings Randolph was one of the giants of West Virginia politics. He was the first mayor of the town of Salem and helped found Salem College, now Salem International University. He was first elected to Congress at age 30 during the Democratic landslide of 1932. A dyed-in-the-wool New Deal Democrat, he worked closely with the Roosevelt Administration and, in particular, with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in establishing the model town of Arthurdale in Preston County.

Randolph was re-elected to the House six times before losing in 1946. After rejoining Congress as a senator in 1959, he supported the Interstate Highway program and sponsored the constitutional amendment allowing 18-year-olds to vote.

Jennings Randolph was re-elected another four times to the Senate before retiring in 1985. He died in 1998 at age 96.

November 4, 1952: Democrat William Marland Elected Governor

On November 4, 1952, Democrat William Marland defeated Rush Holt to become West Virginia’s governor. For Holt, it was the virtual end of a once-promising political career.

The Weston native had burst onto the scene as a Democratic legislator in the early 1930s. In 1934, at age 29, he defeated incumbent Senator Henry Hatfield to become the youngest person ever elected to the U.S. Senate. Since senators must be 30 to serve, Holt had to wait nearly six months to take his seat.

Senator Holt soon ruffled feathers on both sides of the aisle. During the campaign, he’d been backed heavily by labor. Once in office, though, he voted against several prolabor bills and took on big industry, leading a congressional investigation into the Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster in Fayette County.

Without labor or industry support, Holt lost the Democratic renomination in 1940. He returned to the state legislature for six years during the ’40s. In 1952, he ran as a Republican for governor against Attorney General Marland but was defeated. In 1954, Holt was again elected to the legislature but died a year later at age 49.

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