1937 United States Senate special election in Arkansas
The New Deal had brought millions of government dollars to the poor state, creating a group of politicians more loyal to the political patronage system from the federal level.Famous for having rejected a $50,000 bribe from infamous New York City mobster and boss of the Genovese crime family Lucky Luciano while he was Arkansas Attorney General,[8] Bailey was an antiestablishment politician who ran on replacing government patronage positions with qualified people hired on a merit basis.[5] Bailey's antiestablishment credentials and calls for reform in state offices made him unpopular with the establishment, "Old Guard" Democrats who also supported (and in many cases derived their livelihoods from) the New Deal.[10][11] Despite a narrow victory in 1936, Bailey had a sufficient mandate to create a civil service commission (the first in a Southern state), reorganize the Welfare Department to redirect federal aid more efficiently, and doubled funding for school districts.At the meeting, allegations were made that Homer Adkins had ordered his staff to circulate petitions in their home counties across the state to generate support for a primary in opposition to Bailey's nomination.