1954 Massachusetts elections

Last updated April 06, 2023

A Massachusetts general election was held on November 2, 1954 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

statewide elections for United States Senator, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Treasurer, and Auditor;
district elections for U.S. Representatives, State Representatives, State Senators, and Governor's Councillors; and
ballot questions at the state and local levels.

Democratic and Republican candidates were selected in party primaries held on September 14, 1954.

Governor

Republican Christian A. Herter was re-elected over Democrat Robert F. Murphy, Socialist Labor candidate Lawrence Gilfedder, and Prohibition candidate Guy S. Williams.

Lieutenant governor

Republican Sumner G. Whittier was re-elected lieutenant governor over Democrat James A. Burke, Socialist Labor candidate Francis A. Votano, and Prohibition candidate Donald E. Babcock.

Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1954
	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Sumner G. Whittier	972,745	52.01%
Democratic	James A. Burke	883,440	47.23%
Socialist Labor	Francis A. Votano	9,215	0.49%
Prohibition	Donald E. Babcock	5,067	0.27%

Attorney general

Republican attorney general George Fingold was re-elected over Democratic State Senator John F. Collins, Socialist Workers candidate Malcolm T. Rowe, and Prohibition candidate Howard B. Rand in the general election.

Massachusetts Attorney General Election, 1954^[1]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	George Fingold (incumbent)	950,865	51.22%
Democratic	John F. Collins	893,825	48.16%
Socialist Workers	Malcolm T. Rowe	6,004	0.32%
Prohibition	Howard B. Rand	5,425	0.29%
Write-in		1	0.00%

Secretary of the Commonwealth

Incumbent Secretary of the Commonwealth Edward J. Cronin defeated Republican state representative Michael J. McCarthy, Socialist Labor candidate Fred M. Ingersoll, and Prohibition candidate William D. Ross in the general election.

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Election, 1954^[1]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	Edward J. Cronin (incumbent)	1,018,428	55.62%
Republican	Michael J. McCarthy	793,121	43.32%
Socialist Workers	Fred M. Ingersoll	10,613	0.58%
Prohibition	William D. Ross	8,833	0.48%
Write-in		1	0.00%

Treasurer and Receiver-General

Incumbent Treasurer and Receiver-General Foster Furcolo ran for a U.S. Senate seat instead of seeking re-election. John Francis Kennedy defeated Norwood Selectman Clement A. Riley and State Representative and Boston School Committee Chair William F. Carr in the Democratic primary and Republican Augustus Gardner Means, Socialist Labor candidate Henning A. Blomen, and Prohibition candidate Isaac Goddard in the general election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

William F. Carr, Boston School Committee chair and former State Representative from South Boston
John Francis Kennedy, Gillette stockroom supervisor
Clement A. Riley, Norwood selectman

Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver-General Democratic Primary, 1954^[2]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	John Francis Kennedy	124,884	36.84%
Democratic	Clement A. Riley	110,221	32.53%
Democratic	William F. Carr	103,857	30.63%
Write-in		3	0.00%

General election

Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver-General Election, 1954^[1]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	John Francis Kennedy	1,004,145	54.37%
Republican	Augustus Gardner Means	830,263	44.96%
Socialist Workers	Henning A. Blomen	7,325	0.40%
Prohibition	Issac Goddard	5,069	0.27%
Write-in		1	0.00%

Auditor

Incumbent Auditor Thomas J. Buckley defeated Republican state representative William P. Constantino, Socialist Labor candidate Anthony Martin, and Prohibition candidate John B. Lauder in the general election.

Massachusetts Auditor Election, 1954^[1]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	Thomas J. Buckley (incumbent)	1,075,162	58.69%
Republican	William P. Constantino	741,082	40.45%
Socialist Workers	Anthony Martin	9,483	0.52%
Prohibition	John B. Lauder	6,198	0.34%
Write-in		2	0.00%

U.S. Senator

Republican Leverett Saltonstall was re-elected over Democrat Foster Furcolo, Socialist Labor candidate Thelma Ingersoll, and Prohibition candidate Harold J. Ireland.

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References

1 2 3 4 Massachusetts Election Statistics 1954. p. 5.
↑ Massachusetts Election Statistics 1954. p. 131.

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[General-1] 1 2 3 4 Massachusetts Election Statistics 1954. p. 5.

[2] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1954. p. 131.

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v t e Select elections in Massachusetts
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Mass. House	2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
Gov.'s Council	2002 2006 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
U.S. President	1788 1792 1796 1800 1804 1808 1812 1816 1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
U.S. Senate Class 1	1788 1790 s/1796 1796 s/1800 1803 1808 s/1808 1815 s/1816 s/1818 s/1820 1820 1827 1833 1839 s/Feb 1841 1845 s/1851 1851 1857 1863 1869 s/1874 1875 1881 1887 1893 1899 1905 1911 1916 1922 s/1926 1928 1934 1940 1946 1952 1958 s/1962 1964 1970 1976 1982 1988 1994 2000 2006 s/2010 2012 2018 2024
U.S. Senate Class 2	1788 1793 s/1796 1798 s/1800 s/1803 1805 s/1811 1816 s/1822 1822 s/1826 1828 1835 Jan 1841 1841 s/1845 1847 1853 s/1855 1859 1865 1871 s/1873 1877 1883 1889 1895 1901 s/1905 1907 1913 1918 1924 1930 1936 1942 s/1944 1948 1954 1960 1966 1972 1978 1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 s/2013 2014 2020
U.S. House	1788–89 1790–92 1792-93 1794–95 1796 s/1st s/10th s/11th 1798–99 1800–01 s/3rd s/4th s/10th s/4th s/12th s/14th 1802–03 1804 s/12th 1806 1807 s/12th 1808 s/2nd 1810–11 s/10th s/11th s/4th 1812–13 s/17th 1814–15 s/3rd s/4th s/12th 1816–17 s/11th s/1st 1818–19 s/20th 1820–21 s/1st s/8th s/13th 1822–23 s/10th 1824–25 s/10th 1826–27 s/1st 1828 1830–32 1833–34 1834–35 s/2nd s/5th 1836 1838 s/2nd 1840–41 s/1st 1842–44 1843 s/10th 1844–46 1846 1848-50 1850–51 1852 s/2nd s/4th 1854 1856 1858 s/7th 1860 1861 s/3rd s/5th 1862 1864 1866 1868 1869 s/7th 1870 1872 1873 s/3rd 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1893 s/7th 1894 1895 s/6th 1896 1897 s/1st 1898 1900 1902 s/6th 1904 1906 s/3rd 1908 1910 s/4th 1912 1913 s/3rd s/13th 1914 1916 1917 s/6th 1918 1920 1921 s/6th 1922 s/16th 1924 1925 s/2nd s/5th 1926 s/8th 1928 s/12th s/14th 1930 s/2nd 1932 1934 1936 1937 s/7th s/11th 1938 1940 1941 s/7th 1942 1944 1946 1947 s/9th 1948 1950 s/6th 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 s/7th 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1991 s/1st 1992 1994 1996 1998 s/1st Jun s/1st Nov 2000 2001 s/9th 2002 2004 2006 2007 s/5th 2008 2010 2012 2013 s/5th 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
"s/" = Special election See also: Political party strength in Massachusetts