Some Tom McCall trivia

Tom McCall was the Governor from 1967 to 1975The later Governor Tom McCall was the grandson of Samuel McCall, a Massachusetts newspaper editor who served as a Congressman from 1892 to 1912, and as the Governor from 1916 to 1918.

McCall was a newspaper, radio and TV reporter – he worked for The Oregonian -- before entering politics in 1954 in a GOP primary against eight-term Congressman Homer Angell. He upset Angell in the primary, but lost the general election to Democrat Edith Green by a 52%-48% margin. Green remained in Congress for twenty years.

In 1964, McCall won his first public office when he was elected Secretary of State, defeating State Senator Alfred Corbett in the general election despite Lyndon Johnson’s huge plurality in Oregon.

Two years later, when Governor Mark Hatfield ran for the United States Senate, McCall won the Republican nomination for Governor with 91% of the vote against John Reynolds. In the general election, he defeated Democratic State Treasurer Robert Straub by more than 70,000 votes – a 55%-45% margin. McCall won a 1970 rematch with Straub by about the same margin – he won 56% of the vote.

After McCall left office in 1974, Straub was elected Governor, defeating State Senator Victor Atiyeh by a 58%-42% margin in a very Democratic year. McCall sought a political comeback in the 1978 gubernatorial race, but lost the GOP primary to Atiyeh by a 46%-34% margin.