Abstract

After having been elected to Congress from Idaho's Second Congressional District in 1960 by a record vote, and re-elected in 1962, Democrat Ralph Harding was defeated in 1964 by Republican George Hansen in the face of a national Democratic landslide. The objective of this thesis was to analyze the Harding-Hanson contest and attempt to identify the factors which produced the Hansen victory. The methodology employed in this analysis included library research, a comprehensive survey of newspapers serving the Second District which covered the congressional race, correspondence and interviews with candidates, campaign managers and other involved individuals and groups, a grass-roots questionnaire among District voters, a questionnaire to Mormon Stake Presidents and Bishops in the District, and interviews with six Mormon Stake Presidents in the District.

Degree

College and Department

Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Political Science

Rights

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