Democrats

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On April 1, Nebraska and Wisconsin both held primaries. There was not much serious competition for Senator Kefauver in either race. In Nebraska, despite a late effort by a committee to stage a write-in campaign to draft General Eisenhower, the results were:

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On the far side of Illinois, in Wisconsin, Mayor Jerome F. Fox of Chilton accrued a surprising number of votes. As the Chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party he had considerable pull among the party elite, but Kefauver's campaign rolled right over him. A similar effort by a committee to draft General Eisenhower achieved negligible (<5%) results. The primary results were:

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A week later, in Illinois, the primary was an easy victory for Senator Kefauver-- his was the only campaign to get his name on the ballot. As such, he won in a landslide. The results were:

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Still another week ahead, on April 15, New Jersey hosted presidential primaries. The national press narrative was one that saw Estes Kefauver the favored candidate by now, with a nearly uninterrupted streak of victories stretching back to New Hampshire. Here the campaign to nominate W. Averell Harriman had a little more strength, and several surrogates made speeches across the state. Irrespective, the Kefauver campaign emerged victorious. The results were:

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Another week on, on April 22, Pennsylvania held its primaries. On the Democratic side, as was becoming anticipated, Senator Kefauver's momentum carried him to a smashing victory with little in the way of an obstacle-- as in most other states to have held primaries, no southern Democrat could or would gain traction in the north and there was no northern challenger with any name recognition.

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The final Democratic primary held in the month of April, on April 29, was held in Massachusetts. Here the candidacy of Governor Paul Dever was the strongest, however, the attitude among voters seemed to be that the election of Senator Kefauver was a fait accompli. Unsurprising to all observers, Senator Kefauver won. The results were:

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April had, thus, granted Senator Kefauver unparalleled momentum moving into the summer primaries. The Senator's campaign set its sights on Ohio, West Virginia, and Oregon for the upcoming May primaries.

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Republicans

On the Republican side there was somewhat more consternation. The President's campaign, shocked from complacency by the unexpectedly strong showing of Senator Robert A. Taft in New Hampshire, began to call upon Republican surrogates to campaign more strenuously across the primary states-- it was essential, in the opinion of the President and his advisors, that the Convention not be held with the popular perception that the President's popularity was failing in his own party.

Unfortunately for President Dewey, the month of April would not be a good one optically.

The first blows fell on April 1, as the primaries in Nebraska and Wisconsin reported their results. In Nebraska, the midwestern popularity of Senator Taft carried him to an easy victory:

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Further east, in Wisconsin, the results were similarly bad for the President as Senator Taft edged out a narrow victory:

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The news out of Illinois, due to hold its primary on April 8, was even worse. There were only two candidates on the ballot, and the campaign framework of Senator Taft was strong in this essential state-- as was his name recognition and reputation, being from neighboring Ohio. The results were an overwhelming victory by Senator Taft:

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Fortunately, the primaries moved out of the Midwest in late April. New Jersey was much more familiar territory for the President, and despite the negative press coverage of the midwestern swing the President now enjoyed home field advantage, and won a decisive victory himself in the Garden State:

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Pennsylvania proved an interesting contest conceptually-- bordering both Ohio and New York, the home states of each of the primary contenders. However, the results were shockingly one-sided as President Dewey cruised to an easy victory:

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The final primary in April was in Massachusetts. Though Senator Taft competed more ably here than in New Jersey or Pennsylvania, he was handily defeated by the President's formidable campaign apparatus:

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