Taxes dominate

nation's elections

From wire reports

WASHINGTON Americans go . to the polls today to elect 36 governors, 35 senators, all 435 members of the House of Representatives and legislatures in 45 states in a climate of exceptional economic unease.

The theme of government-forless, no longer exclusively Republican, dominated campaigns at every level.

Still, the forecasts were uniform: Democrats will lose little of their dominance and the voter turnout will be poor.

Less than 40% of the 155 million Americans of voting age are expected to go to the polls. The vote could be the lowest for any midterm election since World War II, below the 37% turnout of 1974.

Near-relatives of California's Proposition 13 are on 16 state ballots, calling for cuts or limits in taxes or spending. The proposals are before voters in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota and Texas.

Also vying for voters' attention are bans on union shops in Missouri and homosexual teachers in California, and a referendum on casino gambling in Florida.

At the close of the 95th Congress, Democrats held 285 seats and Republicans 146. There were four vacancies in the House.

Democrats had a 61-39 edge in the Senate. Sixteen of the contested seats to be filled today are held by Democrats and 17 by Republicans. One other Democrat, J. Bennett Johnston, already has won a second term in a unique system that bestows the election to a candidate who gets more than 50% of the primary vote in Louisiana. Another, Howell Heflin, is unopposed by the GOP in Alabama.

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The in-state races are for 26 governorships held by Democrats, nine by Republicans, and one -in Maine by an independent. Republicans will try to make a dent in the 37-12 edge Democrats have in governorships.

The same is true for the legislature contests. Democrats control both branches of the legislature in 36 states, while Republicans are dominant only in five.

Despite the expected apathy, the last days of the campaigns have seen major shifts among a volatile electorate. Eight senators four Democrat and four Republican are in contests that can only be characterized as squeakers.

The Democrats are Floyd Haskell

Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., left, chats with Sen. Alan Cranston aboard a plane carrying Democratic candidates on a last-minute swing around California. In background are Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, right, candidate for state attorney general, and press secretary Bobby Metzger.

of Colorado, William Hathaway of Maine, Jennings Randolph of West Virginia and Wendell Anderson of Minnesota. The Republicans are Charles Percy of Illinois, Robert Griffin of Michigan, John Tower of Texas and Edward Brooke of Massachusetts.

In 13 states the incumbent is not running for the Senate. Democrats hope to pick up seats in Kansas,

New Jersey, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Virginia. Republicans put their hope in South Dakota, Mississippì, Montana and Minnesota, where voters will fill two Senate seats.

Republicans have a chance to pick up a few governorships, but Democrats in the two states with the largest population of voting age

Co

Jerry Brown of California and Hugh L. Carey of New York appear safe.

Associated Press

Any GOP gain in the governorships would reverse a trend that began in 1970 when the count went from 32-18 favoring Republicans to 29-21 for the Democrats.

There are 155.5 million people eligible to vote this year but only about 50 million are expected to bother.