McGonigle had no intention of running for public office, his bookkeeping successes lead to many party bosses viewing him as a viable dark horse candidate. Lawrence entered the race as the clear favorite and ran on a platform emphasizing how the successes he had achieved in Pittsburgh, such as with environmentalism, economic development, race relations, and bureaucratic reform, could be applied to state government. He ran a generally quiet and issues-based campaign and grew frustrated with what he perceived as growing reactionary behavior from the opposing party. McGonigle’s campaign was more energized and continuously attacked Lawrence both for representing an archaic machine style of politics and for his position that the possibility of instituting a state income tax deserved study. Despite political winds that greatly favored Democrats in the national arena, the party's successes in the state were marginal. Lawrence’s campaign was never able to invigorate the base of urban voters and unionized workers in the manner that McGonigle did with key Republicans. A combination of Lawrence’s generally liberal viewpoints, powerful Appalachian anti-Catholicism and contempt for his position as leader as a strong political machine undercut support in one of the greatest areas of Democratic support: the outlying industrial counties surrounding Pittsburgh's Allegheny County. Despite a generally disappointing vote total, Lawrence was able to hang on to his frontrunner position to win the election. Results Notes References 1958 Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Pennsylvania gubernatorial election