Governor Pat Brown on Highway Safety Program, Reapportionment and Nixon

KPIX-TV news footage from June 2 1961 featuring scenes from a press conference by California's Governor Pat Brown, in which he inititally talks about a new Highway Safety Program he hopes will pass the state Senate and help to reduce traffic accident fatalities, in the wake of 44 deaths on California highways over the Memorial Day weekend. A reporter then states that: "Richard Nixon has lashed out at the reapportionment plan, " asking Brown to comment. Nixon had given a speech on June 1 in Los Angeles at a Republican fundraising dinner, in which he attacked the Democrat's plans for reapportioning California's congressional districts. Nixon was highly critical of Governor Brown in this speech, referring to: "Inept and bungling actions which have reduced Governor Brown's prestige to a new low." [quoted from an article on p.12 of the June 2 1961 San Francisco Chronicle, by political editor Earl C. Behrens ]. Brown responds by citing the Republican Party's reapportionment of districts 10 years earlier, which he feels was more partisan than the current proposal and characterizes as: "A classic example of immoral, unfair reapportionment ... an example of disenfranchising people who had a right to vote." He goes on to contend that: "His [Nixon's] smear is typical of the Chotiner-Nixon form of campaign." Note that when Brown refers to "Mr Chotiner, his ghost writer" he is talking about Murray Chotiner, Nixon's political campaign manager. At the time, Nixon denied he was considering a run for Governor of California and when he did challenge Brown in the 1962 Gubernatorial election, he was defeated. Opening graphic designed by Carrie Hawks.