1974 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

1974 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

← 1970 November 5, 1974 1978 →
Turnout	74.64% 0.53 [1]
Nominee Michael Dukakis Francis Sargent Party Democratic Republican Running mate Thomas O'Neill III Donald R. Dwight Popular vote 992,284 784,353 Percentage 53.50% 42.29%
Municipal results
Governor before election Francis Sargent Republican Elected Governor Michael Dukakis Democratic

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The 1974 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1974. Michael Dukakis was elected to a four-year term, from January 4, 1975 until January 4, 1979.^[2] He defeated incumbent Governor of Massachusetts Francis W. Sargent in the general election.^[3]

Republican primary[]

Governor[]

Candidates[]

Declared[]

• Francis Sargent, incumbent Governor
• Carroll Sheehan, former State Commerce Commissioner

Results[]

1974 Massachusetts Republican gubernatorial primary^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Francis W. Sargent	124,250	63.32%
	Republican	Carroll Sheehan	71,936	36.66%
	Write-in	All others	46	0.02%

Lieutenant Governor[]

Incumbent Lieutenant Governor Donald R. Dwight was unopposed in the Republican Primary.

Democratic primary[]

Governor[]

Candidates[]

Declared[]

• Michael Dukakis, former State Representative and nominee for Lt. Governor in 1970
• Robert H. Quinn, Attorney General

Results[]

1974 Massachusetts Democratic gubernatorial primary^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Michael Dukakis	444,590	57.67%
	Democratic	Robert H. Quinn	326,385	42.33%
	Write-in	All others	46	0.01%

Lieutenant Governor[]

Candidates[]

Declared[]

• Thomas P. O'Neill III, State Representative and son of U.S. Representative Tip O'Neill
• Christopher A. Iannella, Boston City Councillor
• Eva Hester, Democratic National Committeewoman
• John P. Lynch, Hampden County Register of Deeds and candidate for U.S. Senate in 1972
• Thomas Martin Sullivan, resident of Randolph

Results[]

1974 Massachusetts Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial primary^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Thomas P. O'Neill III	250,259	35.69%
	Democratic	Christopher A. Iannella	190,587	27.18%
	Democratic	Eva Hester	97,665	13.93%
	Democratic	John P. Lynch	81,874	11.68%
	Democratic	Thomas Martin Sullivan	80,745	11.52%
	Write-in	All others	15	0.00%

^[7]

General election[]

Dukakis defeated Sargent by 207,931 votes.^[3] It was the first gubernatorial victory for the Massachusetts Democratic Party since 1962.

Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1974

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Michael Dukakis (Thomas P. O'Neill III)	992,284	53.50%
	Republican	Francis W. Sargent (Donald R. Dwight) (incumbent)	784,353	42.29%
	American	Leo F. Kahian (Nicholas J. Greco)	63,083	3.40%
	Socialist Workers	Donald Gurewitz (Ollie Bivins)	15,011	0.81%

See also[]

• 1973–1974 Massachusetts legislature

References[]