Fun, but Futile

Everyone in St. Louis seemed surprised when Alfonso Juan Cervantes, 44, great-great-grandson of a Spanish immigrant and a jack-of-all-trades, from insurance to taxicabs to resorts, trounced respected, three-term Mayor Raymond R. Tucker, 68, in the Democratic primary last month. But no one was in the slightest surprised when, last week, Cervantes won the general election.

With decisive labor and Negro votes, Democrats have controlled St. Louis for years. Cervantes' G.O.P. opponent was Maurice R. Zumwalt, 62, a storm-door manufacturer who twice before had run for office and had lost. The Republican gave it all he had. He put up signs that said "Zoom with Zumwalt," staged a 30-hour sit-in outside the office of the Board of Election Commissioners to emphasize his demands that police protection be provided at every polling place. A red-jacketed waiter served Zumwalt a steak dinner in the lobby, where the candidate spent the night on a cot.

It was fun, but futile. Cervantes piled up a landslide, 99,869 to 47,179, and carried with him all 14 Democrats running for the Board of Aldermen.

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