Mr. O’Connell. As far as the party organization was concerned, we had the Democratic primary where the people voted in the Democratic primary and selected the nominees and then after the Democratic nominees were selected and so on, I would say the Washington Pension Union with rare exceptions—and I think those exceptions were some 9 or 10 State senators who were called quisling senators, who didn’t support the Democratic organization in the State senate at the time—I think the Washington Pension Union generally supported the Democratic Party.
Mr. Tavenner. Mr. Eugene Dennett testified that the purpose of the Communist Party in exerting its infiltration efforts in both the Washington Commonwealth Federation and the Washington Pension Union was to strengthen its own political influence. I shall read a part of his testimony. In referring to the Washington Commonwealth Federation he said:
It was our estimate that it was capable—
by “our” he is referring to the Communist Party—
that it was capable of influencing and obtaining the vote of one-third of the members who voted in the Democratic Party slate or side of the ticket and because of that fact and because we were in a higher state of mobilization than the rest of the Democratic Party when primaries came along we could exercise a more direct influence in the primaries than anybody else because our members in the Washington Commonwealth Federation had a great zeal and a greater devotion to carrying out their objectives than the other Democrats who frequently relied upon making their decisions in the general election.
When asked the question why was it that the Communist Party was so interested in obtaining control of the Washington Commonwealth Federation, he replied:
Because we wanted to ultimately obtain political power for the Communist Party in the United States of America.
Did you observe efforts made by William Pennock and Tom Rabbitt, to get control of either the Democratic machinery, the machinery of the Democratic Party, or the machinery of the Progressive Party through the use of the Washington Pension Union?
Mr. O’Connell. Well, I would say in a certain few districts in King County, probably one district in Snohomish County, legislative district in Grays Harbor County, that the nominees of the Democratic Party were certainly not people that the pension union had selected or had picked out but I think they were people the pension union supported because of their votes in the legislature and so on. The Commonwealth Federation was actually gone in my time. I don’t know what it did. I don’t know what its power was and what its influence was but for instance in the 35th District if Pennock was the Representative and Rabbitt was the Senator and they were both in the pension union they certainly had some influence there.
I am trying to think of the district in Snohomish, there are two legislative districts there, I think it was northern Snohomish County where I think there was a pension union member who was actually a member and elected to the legislative assembly and I think that was true in the district down in Grays Harbor County, but you take all of the eastern end of Washington, all the eastern side of Washington they certainly had no influence to speak of over there. They might have had a tiny bit of influence in one district in Spokane County, but in the great part, I would say in the great part of the State outside of those few areas I picked out and where the selections were actually people of their own membership, I don’t, I can’t see any actual picking or selecting of people that were put in. I can’t recall all of the people who were, but for instance the major State offices like Governor and United States Senator, Congressman, and so on, I couldn’t see any influence except in the First Congressional District where of course they could have been instrumental in the nomination and election of Hugh DeLacy in 1944 election, I think it was, but as to the other districts, John Coffee was in Congress a long time I think, even before the pension union was established, Charlie Levy was in the House.