Hoosier Candidate?

The world of political memorabilia is rather remarkable. If you know where to look, you can find virtually anything associated with a campaign, no matter how ephemeral. Recently, while seeking a few additional to my political button collection, I came across a rare find: a sample ballot from Indiana’s Democratic primary back in 1956.

I never thought I’d be able to get my hands on something like this; honestly, I never imagined anyone would hang on to their sample ballot after voting. But now that I have it, I thought I’d do a little research and share some fun facts with you:

• 1956 was the first year that Indiana held a Presidential primary (it occurred on May 8). As you can see from the sample ballot, it was a bit anticlimactic since Adlai Stevenson didn’t bother to contest the primary, despite the fact that he governed the state right next door. Stevenson may have been wise not to bother, as the state wasn’t even remotely competitive in November; Eisenhower won Indiana by 20 points and captured every county in the state except two. Republicans also won the gubernatorial and senatorial elections in the state by comfortable margins.
• As you can see, this sample ballot was from the 8th congressional district, located in the southern part of the state near Evansville. This district was long known as the “Bloody Eighth,” due to the fact that it was one of the swingiest districts in the country (until the redistricting after the 2010 Census, which made it solidly Republican). The most notorious example of the 8th’s swingy nature was the 1984; the race between incumbent Democrat Frank McCloskey and Republican Rick McIntyre was so close that it took multiple recounts and six months before McCloskey was declared the winner by four votes.
• Winfield Denton was the incumbent Congressman from the Indiana 8th. Denton’s father George had been a Congressman for one term back in the teens. Like Kefauver, Winfield Denton was active on the NATO parliamentarians’ committee. Fitting for the Congressman from the 8th, he’d been on an electoral journey of his own. First elected in 1948, Denton served two terms before being ousted in 1952 by Republican Bailey Merrill. Two years later, Denton would beat Merrill in a rematch to gain his seat back. In the fall of 1956, Denton would face off against Merrill yet again and win by less than half a percentage point. He went on to hold the seat until 1966, when he lost to Roger Zion. The seat continued to bounce between the parties until McCloskey managed to hold it from 1983 until 1995 (minus that six-month interregnum while they figured out who won in ’84).
• Ben Garland, who lost to Denton in the primary, seems to have been something of a perennial candidate. He made multiple tries for the 8th District Dem nomination, losing every time. In 1966, he ran for a circuit court judgeship and lost that too. He suffered a stroke in 1969, and took his own life the following year.
• Robert Gramelspacher was just 31 at the time of this primary. He’d been elected to the Indiana State Assembly two years earlier. He’d win again in the fall, and went on to serve until 1960. He went on to serve on several boards and commissions while running several lumber and furniture businesses. He was named a Kentucky Colonel and a Sagamore of the Wabash (the equivalent honor in Indiana). He passed away in 2006 at age 81.
• Theodore Heeke won the Dubois County Treasurer’s race. His daughter, Hilda Schmitt, served as his deputy treasurer, and would later be the first woman elected auditor of Dubois County. Heeke’s son Dennis would serve as a representative in the Indiana State Assembly.
• I didn’t find much on Martin Uebelhor, other than the fact that he lived to be 86 and died in Schnellville, the same town where he was born. However, I can only assume that he is somehow related to the family that runs the Uebelhor & Sons auto dealerships in Jasper, the next town over.
• Ray Jochum lost the County Commissioner’s nomination to Fred Hoffman, but he wound up carving out his own niche. For much of his life, he played Santa Claus at parades and events around southern Indiana. In the 1970s, he turned his own farm into a Santa Claus-themed attraction during the holidays, giving out cookies to thousands of children. In 1984, he became the official Santa Claus at the Santa Claus Land theme park and served until his own death in 1992. He now resides in the International Santa Claus Hall of Fame.