Polls Reveal Presidential Preferences

Harvard students prefer Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller of New York for Republican Presidential nominee in 1960 and Adlai E. Stevenson, former Governor of Illinois, as the Democratic candidate, according to an undergraduate poll conducted Tuesday and Wednesday by Students for Rockefeller and Students for Humphrey.

Thirty-nine per cent of the students replying considered themselves Independents, 33 per cent Democrats, and 28 per cent Republicans.

In the total vote, compiled from 1456 ballots, Stevenson defeated Rockefeller 62 per cent to 38 per cent. Sen. John F. Kennedy, however, lost to Rockefeller by two votes in the closest contest of the poll. Other Democratic candidates suggested by the poll--Senate Majority Leader Lydon B. Johnson, Sen. Hubert H. Humphery of Minnesota, and Sen. Stuart Symington of Missouri--were defeated by Rockefeller with majorities from 60 to 71 per cent, thus giving Rockefeller an average of 57 per cent of the total vote against the five Democrats.

The other Republican suggestion, VicePresident Richard M. Nixon, lost to all five Democratic candidates, receiving only 38 per cent of the total vote. Independents and Democrats definitely preferred Rockefeller for the Republican nomination, although Republicans gave him an edge of only two per cent over Nixon.

This percentage differs widely from that obtained in a Young Republican Club poll completed last night. Sixty-seven per cent of the members preferred Nixon to Rockefeller Republican nominees.

In the Democratic contest for nomination, Kennedy ran a close second to Stevenson, with Humphrey in third standing. Johnson, in fourth place, received only a few more votes than Symington, fifth and last.

Commenting on the results of the poll, Jonathan H. Morgan '59, president of Students for Humphrey, claimed that Humphrey's "relatively strong third place reflects his rapidly rising strength." He asserted that the Minnesota Senator will gain "even more support" by 1960.