On November 3, 1964, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Floyd Hicks (1915-1992), a Democrat from Tacoma, wins the 6th District seat in the U.S. Congress when he defeats 18-year incumbent Rep. Thor Tollefson (1901-1982), a Republican from Tacoma. In Congress, Tollefson had chaired the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee. Before his Congressional service, he was Pierce County's Prosecuting Attorney for eight years.
A Democratic Wave
Thor Tollefson was known as a moderate Republican who stood up for Tacoma interests, a reputation that allowed him to maintain his seat in an area that was home to powerful Democrats including Washington Gov. Albert Rosellini. It was Rosellini who had appointed Floyd Hicks to the Superior Court in 1961. Hicks stepped down from the court in 1963 to resume private practice. Early in the 1964 campaign cycle, a group of Tacoma-area Democrats saw an opportunity to stage an upset in the 6th District and began to organize. They convinced Hicks to run.
Even with conservative Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater as the head of the national ticket and sure to lose in Washington state, Tollefson was generally thought to be impervious to Hick's challenge. In the 1962 election, Tollefson had carried every single precinct in Pierce and Kitsap counties.
Endorsing Goldwater following his selection as the Republican presidential nominee, Tollefson told the Tacoma News Tribune that Goldwater was "a man of principle" but that he didn't agree with him on everything, including his position on civil rights legislation -- Tollefson had supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964, while Goldwater had opposed it (Smith). Tollefson doubted that his support for Goldwater would impact his ability to win reelection in November.
Hicks's primary results did not look promising. Tollefson held a two-to-one lead over his opponent. "Floyd Hicks is an attractive candidate, but reality says the best he can hope to do is cut into Tollefson enough to weaken him in 1966," wrote News Tribune political writer Jack Pyle about a month before the 1964 election ("Apathy Rears Its Head ...").
"Then labor got to working, and they worked hard," Hicks recalled after the campaign. "There were coffee hours. Sometimes a few people would show up, and sometimes there wouldn't be anything there but the coffee pot, but the work continued" ("Hicks Tells Demo Club ..."). Labor interests had historically been supportive of Tollefson, dating to his 1946 defeat of incumbent Democratic Rep. John Coffee. But they saw the opportunity in 1964 and largely backed Hicks. Sen. Henry M. Jackson weighed in supporting Hicks as well. He predicted to Hicks that 1964 would be a wave year for Democrats and that he actually stood a chance to win. At an August picnic sponsored by the Pierce County Democratic Party, with nearly 3,000 people in attendance, Jackson called Tollefson a "do-nothing" congressman (Hicks for Congress).
Hicks was quick to associate Tollefson with Goldwater. He criticized Tollefson for turning down a seat on the House Armed Services Committee in order to maintain his position on Merchant Marine and Fisheries. He alleged that Tollefson was guilty of nepotism since his wife was a member of his Congressional office staff. And he said that Senators Jackson and Warren Magnuson had done far more to secure funding for Pierce and Kitsap County projects than Tollefson had.
"I Didn't Expect to Win"
When the votes were in, Hicks had unseated Tollefson by more than 7,000 votes. Tollefson was not alone in the Washington Congressional delegation in 1964; three other Republicans lost their seats that year. Both candidates were surprised by the results. "I didn't expect to win," Hicks said the morning after the election (Tewkesbury). Hicks figured that Tollefson and other Washington Republicans were hurt by their support for Goldwater. Tollefson admitted that he was caught off guard by his loss because of his strong primary numbers. "I didn't anticipate such a strong Johnson tide," said Tollefson, comparing the 1964 election to the 1932 Democratic wave ("Tollefson May Return to Tacoma Law Work"). As for Hicks, he declared, "The only man more surprised than Thor was me" ("Tollefson Upset By Hicks Rated No. 1 ...").
As Hicks prepared to take his seat in Congress, he learned about the importance of seniority in Congress and realized he had been unfair to Tollefson when he criticized him for choosing his leadership role on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee over a seat on the Armed Services Committee. "I have learned I was unfair to Thor," he admitted to the National Observer newspaper. "I have learned that practically no Congressman with seniority in a committee would think of vacating it for the bottom spot on another one" ("Mr. Hicks Sets the Record ..."). The Bellingham Herald editorial board credited Hicks for his willingness -- rare among politicians, they said -- to admit his misjudgment.
In an oral history, Tollefson cited his support for Goldwater as a reason for his defeat. "I like to think I'm a team player, and I want to go all out for the team ... I went for Goldwater because he was the Republican candidate," he said. "And that didn't help me in Pierce County" (Burg, 48).
When reporters and editors of the Tacoma News Tribune looked back on 1964, they chose Hicks's defeat of Tollefson as the top local news story of the year. Years later, Tribune political writer Jack Pyle noted the upset as "Perhaps the most graphic example of a vote change" between a primary and a general election" ("There's Hard Work Ahead for Winners").
Hicks went on to serve 12 years in Congress, sitting on the Armed Services Committee and supporting regional military bases during the Vietnam era; he later served on the Washington State Supreme Court from 1977-1982. Tollefson was appointed by Gov. Dan Evans to serve as director of the Washington State Department of Fisheries, a post he held until his retirement in 1975.
