Richard Nixon didn’t win the 1960 election. However, he performed strongly in Maine, winning by 14 points. His victory in the state seems to have impacted down-ticket races, and that year incumbent Congressman Frank Coffin of the 2nd district opted to run for governor, with attorney Stan Tupper (1921-2006) of Boothbay Harbor winning the vacant seat. The previous election year, 1958, had been a great one for the Democrats, with them electing their first Democrat to the Senate since the Taft Administration in Ed Muskie, but 1960 seemed like a return to form for the state.

The start of the Kennedy presidency met with significant resistance from Republicans, and even a mild fellow like Tupper got a positive adjusted score from Americans for Constitutional Action (ACA) in his first year at 64% and a negative score from Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) at 30%. Many Republicans scored a 100% from ACA and 0% from ADA that year. Tupper opposed expanding the Rules Committee to aid passage of the Kennedy agenda and voted against a strong minimum wage bill that year, but he also voted for the Area Redevelopment Act (an anti-poverty measure largely aimed at rural areas) and was one of the few House Republicans to be known to support considering the Kennedy Administration’s education bill. In the next year, by contrast, ACA gave him a 27% while ADA gave him a whopping 100%. As a result of the 1960 census, Maine lost a seat in Congress, and he was up against Congressman Peter Garland for the remaining seat. Garland had been quite a popular figure and a conservative, but Tupper won.

Tupper’s record in the next Congress frequently contrasted from that of his fellow Maine representative, Clifford McIntire. Unlike McIntire, he voted for the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 as well as against an effort to curb the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction over state legislative apportionment. However, he voted with McIntire to kill federal aid to mass transit. The 1964 election was a bit of a tough one for Republicans, especially for those on the Eastern seaboard. Goldwater only won 31% of the vote in Maine and none of the state’s counties, yet Tupper barely held on with 50.1% of the vote, winning by only 203 votes in the closest race in the House that year (CQ Almanac). He was the only major Republican on the ballot to win in the state that year, and McIntire only slightly outperformed Goldwater in his bid for a Senate seat against incumbent Ed Muskie, getting 33% of the vote and winning only one county. He had also been the only Republican officeholder in Maine to refuse to endorse Goldwater, and this had saved his bacon despite having gotten him in hot water with Republicans in Maine. By contrast, Republican Paul Laxalt running that year for the Senate in Nevada refused to heed the advice of his campaign staff and not campaign with Goldwater in a scheduled appearance in Las Vegas, stating, “Look, Barry Goldwater is my friend. If I was to duck him now, I could never look him in the face again. I’d rather lose” (ThisIsReno). Laxalt lost the Senate election by 48 votes, a record for closest Senate election that stands to this day, delaying his entry to the Senate by ten years. However, Tupper still stuck by Goldwater as a friend, and he knew and appreciated it.

The Great Society Congress and After

Tupper was one of the strongest Republican supporters of Great Society legislation and in 1965 he was one of two Republican cosponsors of Medicare (the other was New York’s John Lindsay), of which he considered one of his greatest achievements. However, he also backed a Republican effort to recommit the bill. Unlike how he voted in 1961 on the minimum wage, he was in support of a strong measure in 1966, and that year he was one of the few House Republicans to support retention of rent subsidies despite opposing them in 1965. Tupper also had a consistently favorable record on civil rights, supporting the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and open housing. He decided to bow out of politics in 1966, but in 1973 he considered running for governor. Tupper decided against despite excellent polling numbers for family reasons.

In his later years, he maintained a youthful vigor according to friends and maintained his law practice into the 2000s. Tupper also was a co-chair of the McCain primary campaign in 2000. He died on January 6, 2006, 19 days short of his 85th birthday.

Tupper’s Ideology, Per ACA and ADA adjusted scores:

References

Griffin, C. (2003, January 30). A Salute to Stan Tupper: Rotary’s 2003 Recipient of the Lifetime Service Award. Rotary Club.

Retrieved from

https://clubrunner.blob.core.windows.net/00000006633/en-ca/files/homepage/stan-tupper-salute/A-SALUTE-TO-STAN-TUPPER.pdf

Mills, J. (2006, February 6). Stan Tupper: An Independent Life. Office of the Maine Attorney General.

Retrieved from

https://www.maine.gov/ag/news/article_speeches.shtml?id=71010

Obituary: Sen. Paul Laxalt Dies at 96. (2018, August 6). ThisIsReno.

Retrieved from

https://thisisreno.com/2018/08/obituary-sen-paul-laxalt-dies-at-96/

The 1964 Election Results. CQ Almanac 1964. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.

Retrieved from

https://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/document.php?id=cqal64-1302939