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Election Seasons '66 and '68
Some people boarded a bus for Hubert H. Humphrey. Others passed out campaign buttons for Richard Nixon.
Young Republicans and young Democrats chose their favorite candidates and supported them in streets and shopping centers.
Still others ate clams and attended expensive $100-a-plate fund-raiser dinners.
These folks were part of politics around Schenectady in 1966 and 1968. Voter drives began during late summer and ran into the middle of fall, when fortunes were bolstered or busted on Election Day. Posted on November 5, 2012.
Hubert Humphrey’s the one for Democratic supporters in 1968. Among those getting on the bus for HHH’s visit to Utica on Oct. 8, 1968 are, from left, E. Malcolm Cinquino, Thomas Favata and Democratic county chairman George V. Palmer. At right, Ruth Levy, Humphrey's campaign chairwoman in Schenectady, holds a sign for the “Happy Warrior.”
Republicans in Glenville rallied for party stalwarts — including presidential candidate Richard M. Nixon — during the autumn of 1968. From left are Rep. Daniel E. Button, Sen. Dalwin J. Niles, Assemblyman Clark C. Wemple and Supreme Court Justice candidates Arthur Aulisi and Guy A. Graves.
“Republicans for Buckley” formed in 1968 to support the candidacy of Conservative James L. Buckley, who was running for U.S. Senate. Schenectady area residents on the Buckley team were, from left, Alfred J. Schadlow, Dr. Alfred L. Thimm, Guy E. Buck, Jesse L. Michaelson and Loretta Gallagher.
Anthony J. Travia, left, speaker of the state Assembly in 1966, chats with county Democrats on Oct. 26, 1966. The guys seeking office were, continuing from left, Richard J. Conners, who was running for Congress. John F. Kirvin, candidate for Assembly, and William P. Willig, running for district attorney.
Howard A. Levine, Republican-Liberal candidate for district attorney in 1966, smiles as students from Albany Law School distribute his campaign literature that October. From left are David Burke, Robert Miller, Elbert “Skip” Watrous, Levine and passer-by Mrs. Norman Francis.
Howard J. Samuels, Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor in 1966, makes a point during a rally at Scotia Village Hall on Oct. 21, 1966. Seated are William Willig, the Democratic candidate for district attorney, and Ruth Levy, chairwoman of the Glenville Democratic Committee.
Republican Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller autographs a campaign hat for friends in Schenectady during a visit in 1966.
Rotterdam Democrats kicked off campaigns at a clambake on Sept. 4, 1966. From left are Mary Anne Krupsak of Amsterdam (then a senatorial delegate), Wayne Smith, Charles Burke, Richard Conners, John F. Kirvin, William Willig, Thomas Kehoe, George Palmer and Benjamin Wollner.
