Apr. 18, 1962 - George P. McGovern (pictured between contralto Marian Anderson and President Kennedy), director of the Food for Peace program, announced today that he would run for a seat in the U.S. Senate from South Dakota. In January, with President Kennedy’s approval, Mr. McGovern declined to run against Senator Francis Case, a two-term Republican incumbent. Today, again with President Kennedy’s approval, Mr. McGovern said he would make the race since “we have given sufficient force to the Food for Peace program so that it will not be significantly interrupted by my resignation.” President Kennedy and his brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, both urged Mr. McGovern to take on the task of attempting to win the seat for the Democrats. Mr. McGovern lost to Senator Karl E. Mundt in 1960 by only 15,000 out of 305,000 votes, and is widely believed to have suffered from anti-Catholic voting directed at a Democratic ticket of “Kennedy, McGovern, and Fitzgerald.” The last candidate was running for the House of Representatives.
