Nation: Let's See Some Teeth

The Democrats keep control of two statehouses

Sensing possible upsets in two traditionally Democratic states, the G.O.P. threw money and manpower into the Kentucky and Mississippi gubernatorial elections last week. To no avail. John Y. Brown Jr. won in Kentucky and William Winter in Mississippi; each pulled about 60% of the vote. The Republicans, however, scored a net gain of 28 seats in state legislatures across the nation.

In his first bid for elective office, Brown, 45, breached Kentucky custom by hugging and kissing his wife, the irrepressible Phyllis George, 30, in public at every opportunity. She was Miss America in 1971 and went on to become a TV celebrity. In the campaign, she put her media training to expert use to help her husband. When the cameras appeared at a gathering in Lexington, she instructed campaign workers: "Smile, people. Let's see some teeth. This is show biz."

A topnotch salesman who bought Colonel Sanders' Kentucky Fried Chicken business for $2 million and in a stock-swap deal sold it for $21 million, Brown did not do as well in selling himself. He ducked the usual political chores like shaking hands at county courthouses and fish fries. "We have a computer that tells me which hands to shake," he explained.

Instead he relied on television, volunteers and a massive telephone bank.

By contrast, Republican Candidate Louie Nunn shook hands all around the state. Nevertheless, he was unable to win forgiveness for an action he had taken when he served as Governor from 1967 to 1971 — raising the sales tax from 3¢ on the dollar to 5¢. Not even carpeting the state with new roads or running a competent, scandal-free administration could placate those voters who still called the tax "Nunn's nickel."

Lagging 30 points behind Brown in the polls, Nunn attacked Brown's expensive ways (Brown had outspent Nunn $2.8 million to $1.2 million as of Oct. 21).

Speaking of a small eastern Kentucky town, Nunn scoffed: "I know where Johnson's Fork is. My opponent probably thinks it's something you eat caviar with."

When John and Phyllis were photographed at a Manhattan discotheque, Nunn's supporters distributed copies of Penthouse magazine showing bare-breasted women dancing at the same nightspot.

Mississippi had a somewhat more decorous race. William Winter, 56, lean and bespectacled, lost two previous gubernatorial races to more colorful and conservative candidates. This time, Winter stressed his experience as a former state legislator, state treasurer, state tax collector and Lieutenant Governor. Since Winter has contributed articles on Mississippi history to academic journals, his intellectual side was balanced with a TV commercial showing him firing a pistol on a state highway-patrol range.