Congressman Hugh Mitchell announced his candidacy for governor on March 22, seeking to fix an administration that was "falling apart at the seams".

[1] By May, Mitchell was joined by state senator Albert D. Rosellini of Seattle, State Treasurer Tom Martin, Speaker of the House Charles W. Hodde, and Charles C. Ralls in what The Seattle Times described as a "hard-to-predict contest" for the Democratic nomination.

[2][3] During various debates, Rosellini denounced Mitchell as a "left-winger", leaving doubts amidst the anti-communist wave of the era.

[4] Mitchell ultimately won the Democratic nomination by a margin of about 30,000 votes Incumbent Governor Arthur B. Langlie, who had been elected to two non-consecutive terms in 1940 and 1948, filed his intention to run for a third term on July 17 after returning from the 1952 Republican National Convention.

[5][6] Dr. John E. Lydon, a Seattle sanipractor, was the only Republican to run against Langlie and was not considered a serious contender for the party nomination.