Page "Happy Chandler" Paragraph 19

Chandler promised to repeal the unpopular sales tax, lower the gasoline tax, oppose any increase in property taxes, and end the common practice of assessing state employees a percentage of their salaries to be used for campaign activities.

Infuriated by their loss, Laffoon and his allies abandoned the party and supported Republican nominee King Swope.

Policy-wise, there were few differences between the two, and personal attacks were employed by both sides.

Swope's reputation as a stern judge contrasted sharply with Chandler's charisma, and Chandler used this to his advantage by dubbing Swope " his majesty ".

When Chandler touted his service during World War I, Laffoon's adjutant general Henry Denhardt countered by pointing out that Chandler had only been a cadet in training and never engaged in active service in the war.

Ultimately, the campaign turned on the failed presidential administration of Republican Herbert Hoover versus that of the sitting president, Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Chandler defeated Swope by a vote of 556, 262 to 461, 104 in the general election.

The 95, 000-vote margin of victory was, at the time, the largest ever recorded in a Kentucky gubernatorial election, and at age 37, Chandler was the youngest governor of any U. S. state.