, the winner of the
1948 Miss Florida Beauty Pageant, and
Zack Mosley in 1948 Warren was nominated for governor by the Democratic Party in
1948; his platform included promises to fight
racism in Florida. In addition to having to deal with racial segregation, most blacks were still
disenfranchised and cut out of the official political system. Warren won the election and assumed the office of governor on January 4, 1949. After his election, he spoke out against the
Ku Klux Klan, stating after a rally in January 1949 that In March 1949, reports were published that Warren had been a member of the Klan. He issued a statement saying that he had been a member before World War II, but during it he had "helped to fight a war to destroy the Nazis — first cousins to Klansmen." During his term, Warren set the foundations for the state's
turnpike system, began the Florida
reforestation program, instituted quality control programs on Florida's citrus crops, and signed a law that forbade cattle from wandering freely (as they damaged crops). In 1951 Warren signed an anti-Klan law which, although not mentioning the Klan specifically, forbade the wearing of masks in public or on the private property of another person without the written permission of the owner. The hearings of the
United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce, chaired by Senator
Estes Kefauver, brought to light the involvement of Florida public officials in gambling-related corruption involving
numbers games and
bolita. There were accusations that Warren's 1948 campaign had been funded by organized criminals. In 1951, legislator George S Okell, in the
Florida House of Representatives introduced a resolution to
impeach Warren for "wilfully ignoring" his duty to eliminate illegal gambling in Florida and for falsifying papers related to his 1948 campaign. ==Later years ==