Levitt, whom the Washington Evening Star deemed "virtually unknown in California politics", was initially Nixon's only Republican opponent, the others in the Republican primary being cross-filing Democrats. Later, another fringe Republican candidate, Ulysses Grant Bixby Meyer, joined the race, but political observers gave neither man any chance. After Downey withdrew, the main Democratic contenders were Representative Helen Gahagan Douglas and publisher Manchester Boddy. In March, Levitt spoke against Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy's allegations that there were communists in the State Department, stating that they were made with the intent of helping America's enemies prevent reconciliation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. He traveled by bus through Northern California in April, and re-stated his campaign platform, which also included a return to Prohibition and forbidding public funds from being used to have a U.S. representative at the Vatican.
