On October 28, 1947, Governor Earl Snell was killed in a plane crash along with the next in line of succession, President of the Senate Marshall E. Cornett.
John F. Kennedy | Pope John Paul II | Elton John | John | John Lennon | Carnegie Hall | John Wayne | John McCain | Royal Albert Hall | John Kerry | John Cage | Olivia Newton-John | John Williams | John Peel | John Adams | John Steinbeck | John Travolta | John Milton | John Zorn | John Marshall | John Howard | John Singer Sargent | John Ruskin | John Updike | John Maynard Keynes | John Coltrane | John Cleese | St. John's | John Waters | John Lee Hooker |
Incumbent governor John Hubert Hall, who took over after Snell's death until the election, lost the Republican nomination 51.13-48.87%, to state senator Douglas McKay, and the Democrats nominated state senator Lew Wallace, who had previously lost to Earl Snell in the 1942 gubernatorial election in a landslide.