session of the General Assembly. The legislature was unable to reconvene until 1943 when it promptly passed a bill to reform the patronage system and transferred most of the state's agencies to the merit system already employed in some agencies. It also took over the Two Percent Fund, which required all state employees to contribute two percent of their income to a fund that supported the Democratic Party. By creating a board to oversee the fund, they guaranteed that it would be split equally between both parties. Schricker vetoed the bill, but the legislature again overrode it. In 1944, Schricker was mentioned as a candidate for vice president; Indiana Democrats were opposed to the renomination of incumbent Henry A. Wallace, and suggested that because he was from a midwestern state that often supported Republicans, the selection of Schricker could effectively counter the Republican vice presidential selection, Ohio Governor John W. Bricker. Despite the mentions in the press, Shricker made no effort to run for vice president; at the Democratic National Convention, the Indiana delegation, led by Schricker, attempted unsuccessfully to generate support for Paul V. McNutt or Sherman Minton as an alternative to Wallace or the favorite to succeed him, Harry S. Truman. When support for McNutt or Minton failed to materialize, the Indiana delegation supported Truman. Prevented by law from running for reelection to a consecutive term as governor, Schricker was nominated to run for the United States Senate. The race was hard-fought, but Schricker lost to Homer E. Capehart by 48.9% to 50.2% of the vote. Second term Schricker returned to private life by joining the American Fletcher National Bank and Trust Company of Indianapolis. However, he ran for the governorship again in 1948 and won, becoming Indiana's first governor to be elected to two non-consecutive terms, and the second to serve non-consecutive terms. During the Kentucky Derby weekend in 1949, Schricker authorized a crackdown on illegal gambling in Orange County, Indiana, near the French Lick Springs Hotel. Democrats held a small majority in the General Assembly during Schricker's first two years in office, but in the midterms, Republicans again took power. They passed legislation to make public the names of welfare recipients and the amounts received. This was in violation of federal welfare laws and would have resulted in a loss of federal funding for the state welfare system. Schricker vetoed the bill, but the legislature overrode