1978 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

1978 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

←  1974 November 7, 1978 1982  →
Turnout	78.97% 4.33 [1]
Nominee Edward J. King Francis W. Hatch Jr. Party Democratic Republican Running mate Thomas O'Neill III William I. Cowin Popular vote 1,030,294 926,072 Percentage 52.51% 47.19%
County results Municipality results King:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Hatch:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Tie:     40–50%
Governor before election Michael Dukakis Democratic Elected Governor Edward J. King Democratic

The 1978 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1978. Former Massachusetts Port Authority executive director Edward J. King was elected to a four-year term, from January 4, 1979, until January 6, 1983. ^[2] King won the Democratic nomination by defeating incumbent governor of Massachusetts Michael Dukakis in the Democratic primary. ^[3]

As of 2024 ^[update] , this was the most recent Massachusetts gubernatorial election in which both major party candidates are now deceased.

Democratic primary

Governor

Candidates

• Barbara Ackermann, former mayor of Cambridge ^[4]
• Michael Dukakis, incumbent governor
• Edward J. King, former executive director of the Massachusetts Port Authority ^[5]

Declined

• David M. Bartley, former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives ^{[6] [7]}
• Charles Flaherty, State Representative from Cambridge ^[7]
• Paul Guzzi, Secretary of the Commonwealth ^{[7] [8]} (ran for U.S. Senate)
• Kevin Harrington, president of the Massachusetts State Senate ^[7]
• Alan Sisitsky, state senator from Springfield ^[7]
• Robert H. Quinn, former Massachusetts attorney general and candidate for governor in 1974 ^[7]
• Robert Coldwell Wood, president of the University of Massachusetts ^[7]

Campaign

On October 25, 1977, Edward J. King announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination for governor. King also considered running as an Independent or a Republican. ^[9] King attacked Dukakis for not keeping his promises, specifically his pledge not to raise taxes. A fiscal and social conservative, King was anti-abortion and supported capital punishment, offshore drilling, increased nuclear power, greater research on solar energy, less business regulation, raising the drinking age to 21, and mandatory sentences for drug dealers. ^{[10] [11]}

On March 30, 1978, Ackerman announced her candidacy for governor. She positioned herself as the party's liberal alternative to Dukakis. She criticized the governor for failing to deliver adequate human services, not cutting the cost of government, and not attracting new jobs. ^[12]

During the primary race, King was critical of Dukakis, Ackerman attacked Dukakis' record and King's positions on the issues, and Dukakis focused on his accomplishments and ignored his two opponents. Due to his incumbency, Dukakis held the early lead in the race. King was able to raise more money than his opponents due to his support from the business community. King focused his spending on extensive media advertising while Dukakis spent more money on organization than advertising. Ackerman struggled to raise money throughout the campaign and could not afford to advertise on television or in a daily newspaper. ^[13]

Results

Democratic primary results by municipality

King upset Dukakis 51% to 42% with Ackerman receiving the remaining 7%.

1978 Massachusetts Democratic gubernatorial primary ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward J. King	442,174	51.07%
	Democratic	Michael Dukakis (incumbent)	365,417	42.20%
	Democratic	Barbara Ackermann	58,220	6.72%
	Write-in	All others	48	0.01%

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

• Thomas P. O'Neill III, incumbent lieutenant governor

Declined

• Jack Backman, state senator from Brookline ^[14]
• John L. Buckley, Secretary of Administration and Finance ^[14]
• Paul Guzzi, Secretary of the Commonwealth ^[14] (running for U.S. Senate)
• Philip W. Johnston, State Representative from Marshfield ^[14]
• Michael McLaughlin, Middlesex County Commissioner ^[14]
• Ronald Pine, State Representative ^[14]
• Lois Pines, state representative from Newton ^[14]
• Rosemarie Sansone, Boston City councilwoman ^[14]
• Alan Sisitsky, state senator from Springfield ^[14]

Results

Incumbent Thomas O'Neill III was unopposed for renomination.

Republican primary

Governor

Candidates

• Francis W. Hatch Jr., Minority Leader of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
• Edward F. King, businessman and anti-tax activist

Withdrew

• John Buckley, Middlesex County Sheriff

Declined

• Donald R. Dwight, former lieutenant governor ^{[15] [16]}
• Elliot Richardson, former Massachusetts attorney general and member of the Ford administration ^{[17] [18] [19]}

Campaign

On October 27, 1977, Massachusetts House minority leader Francis W. Hatch Jr. became the first Republican candidate for governor. He was joined at his first campaign press conference by former ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., former state senator Philip A. Graham, and former state party chairman William A. Barnstead. ^[20] He believed that the real issues of the campaign were property tax relief, creating jobs and improving the state's economy, welfare reform, revamping auto insurance, and making government more open. ^[11]

In November 1977, party chairman Gordon M. Nelson leaked a poll of Republican campaign contributors that showed Richardson was the top choice for governor with 47% followed by Edward F. King with 27%, Hatch with 18%, former governor Francis W. Sargent with 7%, and Middlesex County Sheriff John J. Buckley with 2%. ^[21]

On January 4, 1978, Edward F. King announced his candidacy for governor. ^[22] A businessman who founded and ran a data consulting company and a real estate company, King ran as a political outsider. He was best known for leading the successful campaign to defeat the graduated income tax proposals in 1972 and 1976. A conservative, he listed Ronald Reagan and Meldrim Thomson Jr. as among his heroes. ^[23] King pledged to cut the state budget by $600 million and eliminate some agencies and programs. ^[22] He took stances against busing, abortion, gay rights, and gun control. ^[11] King focused his early campaign on winning the Republican state convention, which he believed would catapult him through the primary and victory over Dukakis in the general election. ^[23] He pledged to drop out of the race if he did not win the convention vote. ^[24]

Because Edward F. King had the same name as Democratic candidate Edward J. King, the two candidates were often confused with each other. As the younger and less known candidate, Edward F. King believed that the name confusion worked to his advantage as it gave his name double exposure. Conversely, as the better known candidate, Edward J. King became wary of the confusion. In addition to having the same name, the two Kings also had similar political positions (they both ran as pro-business, anti-tax conservatives) and both attended Boston College (Edward J. King graduated, but Edward F. King left to go into business). Physically, the two were not alike as the Democratic King was large (six-feet tall) and quiet while the Republican was five foot-six and described as "fiery". ^[23]

On February 6, 1978, John J. Buckley entered the GOP race. Buckley believed that as a fiscal conservative who was liberal on social issues, he was the best Republican candidate to beat Dukakis. He also cited the fact that he had been elected in a heavily Democratic county while King had never run for public office before and Hatch had lost his previous bids for higher office as another reason why he was the best candidate. Buckley reiterated his opposition to the death penalty and promised to veto any attempts to eliminate abortions. He also stated that he wanted to let private businesses perform many state functions, including the Medicaid program. He declined to promise that he would not raise taxes. ^[25]

The Republican Convention was held on May 6, 1978, at the Symphony Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts. On the first ballot, King received a plurality of the votes with 898 to Hatch's 874 and Buckley's 212. Before the second ballot, Buckley announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy and attempted to move his delegates to Hatch. However, King won the nomination. After the defeat, Hatch announced that he would challenge King in the primary. ^[26] Although Buckley withdrew at the convention he still considered running in the primary. However, on May 17 he officially exited the governor's race. ^[27] He later entered the race for the United States House of Representatives seat in Massachusetts's 5th congressional district, which was being vacated by Paul Tsongas.

During the primary campaign, King attacked Hatch for being a "professional politician" and an "insurgent" candidate. He stated as House Minority Leader, Hatch shared a responsibility for higher taxes and spending. King also touted his role as a leader in the taxpayer revolt. Hatch on the other hand ignored King and focused his attack on the Democratic frontrunner and incumbent governor Michael Dukakis. ^[11]

Results

Hatch defeated King 56% to 44%.

1978 Massachusetts Republican gubernatorial primary ^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Francis W. Hatch Jr.	141,070	55.96%
	Republican	Edward F. King	110,932	44.01%
	Write-in	All others	86	0.03%

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

• William I. Cowin, former Secretary of Administration and Finance (running with Hatch)
• Peter McDowell, State Representative from Dennis (running with King)

Campaign

On April 28, 1978, Edward F. King chose State Representative Peter McDowell to be his running mate. ^[29] McDowell was chosen by King largely because McDowell opposed a clause in an ethics bill supported by King's primary opponent, Francis W. Hatch Jr., that would require politicians to disclose all clients they had done more than $1000 worth of business with. He felt the provision was unfair because businesses would not want to disclose this information for competitive reasons. He also felt it was unfair to the clients to have their names disclosed because they had nothing to do with political activities. ^[30] Following King's victory at the Republican convention, McDowell was acclaimed as the party's nominee. ^[26]

After John J. Buckley dropped out at the convention to support Hatch, it was rumored that Hatch would select Buckley to be his running mate. ^[26] However, on May 25, 1978, Hatch announced that former Secretary of Administration and Finance William I. Cowin would be his running mate. ^[31]

Results

Cowin defeated McDowell in the Republican primary to become his party's nominee for lieutenant governor.

1978 Massachusetts Republican lieutenant gubernatorial primary ^[32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William I. Cowin	128,914	59.90%
	Republican	Peter McDowell	86,250	40.08%
	Write-in	All others	41	0.02%

General election

Campaign

Due to the presence of a conservative Democrat and a liberal Republican in the race, there were some members of each party that endorsed the other's candidate. William A. Casey, the Republican nominee for Massachusetts State Auditor, dropped out of the race to endorse King. ^[33] Unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial candidate Edward F. King, California anti-tax activist Howard Jarvis, New Hampshire Governor Meldrim Thomson, and Lloyd B. Waring, a prominent Republican fundraiser and former chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party, also endorsed King. ^{[34] [35] [36]}

Conversely, unsuccessful Democratic candidate Barbara Ackermann, state representatives Barney Frank, Mel King, Saundra Graham, Doris Bunte, Robert L. Fortes, and James Segel, Chelsea Mayor Joel Pressman, and the board of the directors of the Massachusetts chapter of Americans for Democratic Action endorsed Hatch. ^{[37] [38] [39] [40]} Lieutenant Governor Thomas P. O'Neill III considered dropping out of the race instead of running on the same ticket as King. However, he chose to remain on the ticket but express his own ideology. ^[41]

Results

The King-O'Neill ticket defeated the Hatch-Cowin ticket 53% to 47%.

1978 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Edward J. King (Thomas P. O'Neill III)	1,030,294	52.51%	0.99
	Republican	Francis W. Hatch Jr. (William I. Cowin)	926,072	47.19%	4.90
	Write-in	All others	5,885	0.30%
Majority			104,222	20.30%

Results by county

1978 United States gubernatorial election in Massachusetts (by county) [42]
County	King - D %	King - D #	Hatch Jr. - R %	Hatch Jr. - R #	Others %	Others #	Total #
Barnstable	36.2%	21,986	59.6%	36,198	4.2%	2,523	60,707
Berkshire	44.5%	22,660	51.6%	26,285	3.9%	1,984	50,929
Bristol	58.6%	87,175	37.2%	55,406	4.2%	6,191	148,772
Dukes	28.5%	1,201	67.6%	2,851	3.9%	164	4,216
Essex	48.4%	122,567	46.9%	118,752	4.6%	11,749	253,068
Franklin	35.5%	8,157	61.5%	14,121	3.0%	686	22,964
Hampden	46.5%	64,316	49.5%	68,518	4.0%	5,601	138,435
Hampshire	36.8%	16,216	59.7%	26,303	3.5%	1,548	44,067
Middlesex	50.2%	360,363	45.9%	237,911	3.9%	20,127	518,401
Nantucket	31.0%	570	65.7%	1,209	3.3%	60	1,839
Norfolk	50.8%	127,532	45.3%	113,633	3.9%	9,882	251,047
Plymouth	52.8%	68,594	42.9%	55,652	4.3%	5,578	129,824
Suffolk	58.0%	113,967	36.3%	71,281	5.8%	11,388	196,626
Worcester	51.6%	115,151	43.8%	97,780	4.6%	10,240	223,171

See also

• 1977–1978 Massachusetts legislature

References

1. "Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1978".
2. "Our Campaigns - MA Governor Race - Nov 07, 1978".
3. "Our Campaigns - MA Governor - D Primary Race - Sep 19, 1978".
4. Turner, Robert L. (December 15, 1977). "Ackerman ponders Dukakis challenge". The Boston Globe.
5. Kenney, Charles (December 15, 1976). "Ex-Massport chief King plans to run for governor". The Boston Globe.
6. Turner, Robert L. (October 15, 1977). "Bartley says 2 key Democrats want him to run for governor". The Boston Globe.
7. Michelson, A.A. (February 4, 1978). "When challengers leave the race". The Boston Globe.
8. Surkin, Carol (January 12, 1978). "Guzzi may join race for governor". The Boston Globe.
9. Turner, Robert L. (November 5, 1978). "King or Hatch?". The Boston Globe.
10. Turner, Robert L. (October 26, 1977). "King opens campaign with blast at Dukakis". The Boston Globe.
11. Nick King; Laurence Collins (September 17, 1978). "A final blitz for votes". The Boston Globe.
12. Robinson, Walter V. (March 31, 1978). "Ackermann of Cambridge is running for governor". The Boston Globe.
13. Nick King; Walter V. Robinson (August 13, 1978). "3 Democrats get ready for the final push". The Boston Globe.
14. Lockman, Norman (May 12, 1978). "Dukakis aide '99%' sure Lt. Gov. O'Neill will run for Senate". The Boston Globe.
15. Henry III, William (May 4, 1975). "Where are they now--Sargent, Dwight, Davoren and Quinn?". The Boston Globe.
16. Patterson, Rachelle (September 7, 1975). "US position turned down by Dwight". The Boston Globe.
17. Lockman, Norman (November 7, 1976). "State GOP's view from the bottom". The Boston Globe.
18. Patterson, Rachelle (December 11, 1976). "Richardson weighs bid for Presidency". The Boston Globe.
19. "State House? Richardson to say no". The Boston Globe. October 4, 1977.
20. Turner, Robert J. (October 28, 1977). "Hatch announces for governor, says Dukakis failing to lead". The Boston Globe.
21. Healy, Robert (November 4, 1977). "Hatch caught in old GOP squeeze". The Boston Globe.
22. Turner, Robert (January 5, 1978). "GOP's Edward F. King will run for governor". The Boston Globe.
23. King, Nick (January 13, 1978). "Kings are pawns in a name game". The Boston Globe.
24. Lockman, Norman (May 7, 1978). "Only 1st step, King cautions". The Boston Globe.
25. Turner, Robert L. (February 7, 1978). "Sheriff Buckley joins GOP governor race". The Boston Globe.
26. Collins, Laurence (May 7, 1978). "Conservative defeats Hatch after Buckley withdraws". The Boston Globe.
27. Collins, Laurence (May 18, 1978). "Buckley bows out of race for governor". The Boston Globe.
28. "Our Campaigns - MA Governor - R Primary Race - Sep 19, 1978".
29. "Dennis Republican King running mate". The Boston Globe. April 29, 1978.
30. "The convention's slate". The Boston Globe. May 7, 1978.
31. Turner, Robert (May 26, 1978). "Cowin teams up with Hatch". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
32. Massachusetts Election Statistics 1978. 1978. p. 230.
33. Lockman, Norman (September 24, 1978). "GOP auditor candidate withdraws from ticket". The Boston Globe.
34. Larkin, Al (November 2, 1978). "GOP's King backs Edward J.". The Boston Globe.
35. Black, Chris (October 17, 1978). "King gets Jarvis' backing". The Boston Globe.
36. "I'd vote for King, Thomson says". The Boston Globe. October 29, 1978.
37. Larkin, Al (October 5, 1978). "Democrat Ackermann says she's for Hatch". The Boston Globe.
38. Collins, Laurence (October 11, 1978). "6 Democrats go for Hatch". The Boston Globe.
39. Collins, Laurence (October 18, 1978). "Chelsea's mayor goes for Hatch". The Boston Globe.
40. Larkin, Al (October 6, 1978). "ADA board votes to back Hatch". The Boston Globe.
41. King, Nick (September 22, 1978). "Lt. Gov. O'Neill will run with King". The Boston Globe.
42. "PD43+ » Search Elections".