American politician (1901?1965)
George H. McLain
(June 24, 1901 ? July 12, 1965) was a
United States
Democratic
politician
from
California
and an influential
pension
promoter from the 1930s through the early 1950s.
Career
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]
McLain began his political career campaigning on behalf of
1934 California gubernatorial candidate
Upton Sinclair
, before turning to social organizing. He formed a
nativist
organization called "Natives of California, Inc." in 1936, whose avowed purpose was "to return the government of California to the natives of the state, and keep it there," a reaction to the large number of migrants from the
Great Plains
who had arrived during the
Depression
. In the early forties, McLain gained control of an organization that would become the California Institute of Social Welfare and McLain's main platform for political organizing. In 1949, he was accused of bribing state lawmakers, but the case was dismissed the following year by
California's Third District Court of Appeal
.
[1]
After leading a series of ballot proposition campaigns that all failed in the early 1950s, McLain largely retreated from public life, save to run for federal office twice in the early sixties.
McLain may be best known for running in California's Democratic
presidential
primary in 1960. He was the only opponent of the heavily favored
favorite son candidate
,
Governor
Pat Brown
. McLain lost to Brown, but, because of the large number of votes cast in California, and the small number of primaries overall, he finished third in total number of votes cast in all Democratic primaries, just behind eventual nominee
John F. Kennedy
and Brown, even though he ran only in California.
McLain ran unsuccessfully, at various times, for the
Los Angeles School Board
, the
City Council
and
Mayor of Los Angeles
; the
State Assembly
and
State Senate
, and
California's 23rd Congressional District
. He also ran twice for the
United States Senate
: as a Democratic
write-in
in a 1946
special election
and for his party's nomination in 1964, losing both times.
Personal
[
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McLain married three times, with his second marriage to Rose C. McLain ending in a contested divorce in 1961.
[2]
Circa 1962 he married
Elenor Yorke
, a poet, to whom he stayed married until his sudden death in 1965.
[3]
Electoral history (incomplete)
[
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]
California special United States Senate election, 1946
:
[4]
Democratic presidential primary in California, 1960
[5]
- Pat Brown
- 1,354,031 (67.69%)
- George H. McLain - 646,387 (32.31%)
Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1960
[6]
- John F. Kennedy
- 1,847,259 (31.43%)
- Pat Brown
- 1,354,031 (23.04%)
- George H. McLain - 646,387 (11.00%)
- Hubert Humphrey
- 590,410 (10.05%)
- George Smathers
- 322,235 (5.48%)
- Michael DiSalle
- 315,312 (5.37%)
- Unpledged delegates - 241,958 (4.12%)
- Wayne Morse
- 147,262 (2.51%)
- Adlai Stevenson
- 51,833 (0.88%)
Democratic primaries for U.S. Senate, 1964
:
[7]
- Pierre Salinger
- 1,177,517 (44.26%)
- Alan Cranston
- 1,037,748 (39.01%)
- George H. McLain - 180,405 (6.78%)
- Clair Engle
(inc.) - 119,967 (4.51%)
- Lynn W. Johnston - 43,744 (1.64%)
- Walter R. Buchanan - 24,093 (0.91%)
- Harold E. Fields - 16,061 (0.60%)
- Demos Cordiero - 15,696 (0.59%)
- Mark Morris - 12,357 (0.46%)
- Emanuel Braude - 10,064 (0.38%)
- Henry A. Mermel - 6,092 (0.23%)
Notes
[
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]
- ^
Justin, McLain v. Superior Court, Civ. No. 7848, California Third District, August 21, 1950, retrieved May 16, 2020
- ^
Los Angeles Public Library, February 7, 1961, access date May 16, 2020
- ^
The San Bernardino Sun, March 27, 1963
- ^
Our Campaigns - CA US Senate Special Race - Nov 05, 1946
- ^
Our Campaigns - CA US President - D Primary Race - Jun 07, 1960
- ^
Our Campaigns - US President - D Primaries Race - Feb 01, 1960
- ^
Our Campaigns - CA US Senate - D Primary Race - Jun 02, 1964
External links
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]