Nation: Challenge & Cheer

Other G.O.P. developments:

> Liberal Republican John H. Reed, 45, Governor of Maine for almost seven years, won nomination for a new four-year term with a solid (56,000 to 38,000) primary victory over conservative State Legislator James S. Erwin, also 45. Chairman of the National Governors' Conference, Reed faces a stiff challenge from the Democratic nominee, Secretary of State Kenneth M. Curtis, 35, but stands to benefit from U.S. Senator Margaret Chase Smith's presence on the G.O.P. ticket. In her quest for a fourth term, the redoubtable Mrs. Smith has a little-known opponent-the Democrats apparently figuring that to mount a determined challenge would only bring out a Smith vote that could swamp their entire slate.

>The Massachusetts Republican convention endorsed State Attorney General Edward Brooke, 46, who fills the highest elective office held by a U.S. Negro, for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Leverett Saltonstall, also backed Governor John Volpe for reelection. Though Massachusetts Democrats enjoy a 2-to-l registration edge, both Brooke and Volpe hope to profit from primary fights in the opposition ranks.

> California Republicans, cheered by a poll showing Ronald Reagan well ahead in his race to unseat Democratic Governor Pat Brown, dropped $300,000 into the party coffers at a Los Angeles lovefest. Though the affair's main speaker was ex-Californian Richard M. Nixon, Reagan earlier announced that he did not need campaign help from outside the state—a message clearly meant to dissociate himself further from Barry Goldwater. "This campaign is for the people of California," said Reagan, "and I personally would like to keep it that way."