| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Elections in Massachusetts | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
The 1956 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1956. Democrat Foster Furcolo was elected Governor of Massachusetts to replace incumbent Christian Herter, who did not run for re-election. Furcolo defeated Republican Sumner G. Whittier, Socialist Labor candidate Henning A. Blomen, and Prohibition candidate Mark R. Shaw.
John Foster Furcolo was an American lawyer, writer, and Democratic Party politician from Massachusetts. He was the state's 60th governor, and also represented the state as a member of the United States House of Representatives. He was the first Italian-American governor of the state, and an active promoter of community colleges.
The Governor of Massachusetts is the head of the executive branch of the Government of Massachusetts and serves as commander-in-chief of the Commonwealth's military forces. The current governor is Charlie Baker.
Christian Archibald Herter was an American politician who was the 59th Governor of Massachusetts from 1953 to 1957 and United States Secretary of State from 1959 to 1961.
Contents
In the race for Lieutenant Governor, Democrat Robert F. Murphy defeated Republican Charles Gibbons, Prohibition candidate Harold E. Bassett, and Socialist Labor candidate Francis A. Votano.
The Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts is the first in the line to discharge the powers and duties of the office of governor following the incapacitation of the Governor of Massachusetts. The constitutional honorific title for the office is His, or Her, Honor.
Robert F. Murphy was an American politician who was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. In 1949 Murphy became the first Democrat to serve as the Majority Leader of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Murphy also served as the 59th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts from January 1957 to October 6, 1960, when he was appointed by political foe Foster Furcolo to take over the scandal-ridden Metropolitan District Commission. Murphy was the son of Franklin E. Murphy, a telegrapher from Danvers, Massachusetts. Robert's mother, Alice Murphy, worked as a milliner in Boston.
Charles Gibbons was a U.S. politician who served as the Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1953 to 1955 as a Republican. As of 2017, he is the last Republican to serve as Massachusetts Speaker of the House.
