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DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS SUBMITTED George and Mary Jane Leader pose with their sons, Frederick, left, and Michael, at Leader's inauguration as Pennsylvania's governor.

George M. Leader was basically a political unknown outside of York County before he ran for governor in 1954, according to coverage from Time magazine and The Associated Press at the time.

But his intense campaigning, which included the use of TV and pollsters, put him in the governor's office.

"That anchor and pride of Republicanism, the great and prosperous state of Pennsylvania, went Democratic," a 1954 Time magazine article said.

Leader also won his home county that year although in those days, that wasn't an upset. The Democratic nominees won York County in the 1950 and 1958 gubernatorial elections, too.

This election, another York County resident is on the ballot for governor, as Democrat Tom Wolf of Mount Wolf is challenging Republican Gov. Tom Corbett of Allegheny County. The election is Tuesday.

Wolf doesn't need to win his home county to win the state. In recent years, the general goal for Democrats has been for their statewide candidates to get at least 40 percent of the vote in York County and rely on big margins of victory in other areas, such as Philadelphia.

The York County area was friendlier for Democrats in Leader's day.

Leader, who died in May 2013, grew up on a poultry farm and was the son of a state senator. He got elected to his father's seat in 1950, and he ran unsuccessfully for state treasurer in 1952. Despite his political background, a Time magazine article in November 1954 described Leader as "a young man whom few outside of his home York County had ever heard of until eight months ago."

Leader got the Democratic nomination for governor in 1954, defeating a Democrat from western Pennsylvania.

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How Democrat George M. Leader won Pennsylvania and York County in 1954

GOP backing Democrat could tip superintendent race GOP backing Democrat could tip superintendent race

Republican groups are supporting a Democrat for Arizona's top education official in an election race that has seemingly been flipped on its head.

Republican groups are supporting a Democrat for Arizona's top education official in an election race that has seemingly been flipped on its head.

The Republican and Democratic candidates for Arizona governor are set for a final campaign push through the state as they try to seal a general election win.

The Republican and Democratic candidates for Arizona governor are set for a final campaign push through the state as they try to seal a general election win.

A big endorsement for gubernatorial hopeful Doug Ducey.New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is in town and is throwing his support behind the Republican candidate.Christie joined Ducey at the Barret Jackson HQ in Scottsdale Thursday morning.C

A big endorsement for gubernatorial hopeful Doug Ducey.New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is in town and is throwing his support behind the Republican candidate.Christie joined Ducey at the Barret Jackson HQ in Scottsdale Thursday morning.C

President Barack Obama greets listeners on a popular Navajo radio station in the tribe's language and implores them to vote for Democrats.

President Barack Obama greets listeners on a popular Navajo radio station in the tribe's language and implores them to vote for Democrats.

Three statewide propositions are on the ballot in Tuesday's election, including a measure that would make it easier for terminally ill patients to get experimental drugs.

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GOP backing Democrat could tip superintendent race

Democrat theft of GOP signs in Middletown, DE

By: John Fluharty

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Democrat theft of GOP signs in Middletown, DE - Video

John Heilemann interviews Democrat Willie Brown
(Oct 27) John Heilemann asks Willie Brownformer mayor of San Franciscoabout Barack Obama, the Clintons, and the Democrats #39; chances on Nov. 4.

By: Bloomberg News

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John Heilemann interviews Democrat Willie Brown - Video

I commented Wednesday on the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette report on circulation figures. I wanted to know more about numbers underlying an increase in Sunday circulation. I got those figures today from Rachel Chaney, the newspaper's business editor, and they show a big contribution from weekly free distribution..

The newspaper had reported that daily circulation had dropped 5.8 percent the last year, to 137,767, while Sunday circulation rose 14.8 percent to 245,603. The rise on Sunday was attributed to free weekly sections the Sunday Digest for Pulaski County and the Weekend Wrap for Northwest Arkansas. "That obviously has helped us on Sunday quite a bit," Circulation Director Larry Graham said in the D-G article.

The article didn't mention how much of the newspaper's circulation was attributable to the free sections. I sent questions over and got an answer back this afternoon from Chaney.

The daily circulation figure includes 3,284 from the weekly Sync and 4,455 from paid digital-only subscribers.

You have to go back a long way to find reported paid circulation of the Sunday newspaper below 200,00, where the D-G would be today without the free section boost. The numbers jumped over 200,000 in the 1980s in the newspaper war, when discounting of prices was epidemic by the competing Arkansas Democrat and Arkansas Gazette.

The free sections have boosted numbers for national advertising inserts to offset circulation losses attributable at least in part to subscription price increases. We all, of course, hope people aren't losing the newspaper reading habit. Right?

I had a small ironic laugh over this news on yesterday's daily video news roundup. Time was, the establishment newspaper types made fun of people at the trashy throwaway tabloids for giving it away. Then along came the Internet.

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Democrat-Gazette Sunday circulation rises with 52,237 free papers