Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1986

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Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1986
Flag of Massachusetts.svg
←  1982 November 3, 1986 1990  →
Turnout57.41% Decrease2.svg 25.1 [1]
  1988 Dukakis.jpg No image.svg
Nominee Michael Dukakis George Kariotis
Party Democratic Republican
Running mate Evelyn Murphy Nicholas Nikitas
Popular vote1,157,786525,364
Percentage68.79%31.21%
Massachusetts gubernatorial election results by municipality, 1986.svg
Municipal Results
Governor before election

Michael Dukakis
Democratic

Elected Governor

Michael Dukakis
Democratic

The 1986 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986. Michael Dukakis was elected Governor of Massachusetts for a third term. He beat Republican George Kariotis by a 65–30% margin.

Michael Dukakis American politician

Michael Stanley Dukakis is a retired American politician who served as the 65th Governor of Massachusetts, from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history and only the second Greek-American governor in U.S. history, after Spiro Agnew. He was nominated by the Democratic Party for president in the 1988 election, losing to the Republican candidate, Vice President George H. W. Bush.

Governor of Massachusetts head of state and of government of the U.S. commonwealth of Massachusetts

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.

Republican Party (United States) Major political party in the United States

The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major political parties in the United States; the other is its historic rival, the Democratic Party.

Contents

Democratic primary

Governor

Candidates

Declared

Michael Dukakis was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Lieutenant Governor

Candidates

Declared

Gerard D'Amico is an American politician who served in the Massachusetts Senate from 1977 to 1987 and was a member of the Worcester, Massachusetts School Committee from 1972 to 1976. He was a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1986. He lost to Evelyn Murphy in the Democratic primary.

Evelyn Murphy Massachusetts politician

Evelyn Murphy was the 67th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts from 1987 to 1991, being the first woman in the history of the state to hold a constitutional office. She is now the president of The WAGE Project, a United States nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating wage discrimination against women; a resident scholar at the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University, and a corporate director.

John Kerry, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 1982, did not run for reelection as he had been elected to the United States Senate in 1984.

John Kerry 68th United States Secretary of State

John Forbes Kerry is an American politician who served as the 68th United States Secretary of State from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1985 until 2013. He was the Democratic nominee in the 2004 presidential election, losing to Republican incumbent George W. Bush.

Results

Massachusetts Democratic Lt. gubernatorial primary, 1986
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Evelyn Murphy 374,71460.10%
Democratic Gerard D'Amico 248,67139.89%

Republican primary

Governor

Candidates

Declared
  • George Kariotis, businessman and former Secretary of Economic Affairs
Eliminated at convention

Guy A. Carbone is an American attorney and Perennial candidate in Massachusetts who was Metropolitan District Commissioner from 1979–1980.

Withdrew
Massachusettss 5th congressional district U.S. House of Representatives district in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Massachusetts's 5th congressional district is a congressional district in eastern Massachusetts. The district is represented by Katherine Clark. Massachusetts congressional redistricting after the 2010 census has changed the borders of the district starting with the elections of 2012, with the new 3rd district largely taking the place of the old 5th. The 5th district covers many of the communities represented in the old 7th district. As of 2010, the population of the 5th congressional district was 727,515. On July 15, 2013, Ed Markey resigned from the seat to become the junior Senator from Massachusetts. On December 10, 2013, Democrat Katherine Clark won a special election to fill the seat for the remainder of the 113th Congress. She was sworn into office on December 12, 2013.

Royall H. Switzler is an American politician who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1973 to 1975 and again from 1977 to 1986. He was a candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in 1986 until he dropped out after inaccuracies about his military record were revealed.

Declined
Paul W. Cronin American politician

Paul William Cronin was a one-term congressman of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts.

Edward J. King Governor of Massachusetts

Edward Joseph King was an American politician who served as the 66th Governor of Massachusetts from 1979 to 1983. A member of the Democratic Party until 1985, he then became a member of the Republican Party. Elected in the Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1978, he lost the Democratic primary of the 1982 election to his predecessor Michael Dukakis.

Campaign

On March 13, Greg Hyatt became the first Republican to enter the gubernatorial race. A self-described "populist conservative", Hyatt supported limiting state taxes, bringing back the death penalty, and competency testing and merit pay for teachers. He opposed the state law that made wearing a seat belt mandatory, the use of roadblocks to crack down on drunken driving, and the use of public funds for abortions. [5]

Shortly before the Republican convention, Boston attorney and former Metropolitan District Commissioner Guy Carbone entered the race.

The convention nomination was won by Royall H. Switzler, a state representative who had been drafted by anti-Hyatt Republicans after former Congressman Paul W. Cronin decided not to enter the race. To receive the endorsement of the party, a candidate must receive the support of 50% of the delegates. Only candidates receiving 15% of the vote or more on any ballot would be eligible for a primary. After a strong showing on the first ballot, some of Hyatt's major supporters, including Ray Shamie and Papa Gino's founder Michael Valerio, announced that they would not oppose Switzler's endorsement. [3] On the second ballot, Switzler won the nomination with 975 votes. Since Carbone did not exceed 15% of the vote on either ballot, he was eliminated.

State Republican Convention results, 1986
CandidateFirst ballotPct.Second ballotPct.
Royall Switzler 77540.28%97551.02%
Greg Hyatt 89146.31%87645.84%
Guy Carbone 25813.41%603.14%

Despite losing the nomination, Hyatt chose to stay in the race and run against Switzler in the Republican primary. [6] However, Switzler dropped out of the race in June after inaccuracies about his military record were revealed. He had falsely claimed to be a member of the United States Army Special Forces and stated that he had fought in Vietnam when he had only visited Vietnam on leave from noncombat duty in Korea. [7]

Hyatt then dropped out of the race on July 14 amid accusations of forging names on his nomination papers, having ties to organized crime, and erratic personal behavior which included working nude in his office. [8] [9]

Businessman and former Secretary of Economic Affairs George Kariotis entered the race after both candidates dropped out. Because the filing deadline for the election was on March 1, Hyatt and Switzler remained on the ballot while Kariotis was forced to run a write in campaign. Hyatt won the election, but he and Switzler, who finished second, declined the nomination and Kariotis was declared the nominee.

Results

Republican primary results by municipality Massachusetts Republican gubernatorial primary results by municipality, 1986.svg
Republican primary results by municipality

Due to the fact that both listed candidates had dropped out of the race, the Republican primary saw extremely low turnout.

Massachusetts Republican gubernatorial primary, 1986
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Greg Hyatt 31,02148.19%
Republican Royall Switzler 20,80232.32%
Republican George Kariotis (Write-in)11,78718.31%

Lieutenant Governor

Candidates

Declared
  • Nicholas M. Nikitas, hotel operator, real estate developer, and Republican Party activist [10]

General election

Results

Dukakis won a convincing victory over Kariotis. Soon after being sworn in for his third term as Governor, Dukakis began to run for the Democratic nomination for President in 1988.

Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1986
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Democratic Michael Dukakis (Evelyn Murphy)1,157,78665.15%Increase2.svg5.67%
Republican George Kariotis (Nicholas Nikitas)525,36429.56%Decrease2.svg7.01%
Write-inBlank votes93,1385.24%

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References

  1. ↑ "Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1986".
  2. ↑ Bruce Mohl (April 5, 1986). "Guy Carbone Announces GOP Run for Governor". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  3. 1 2 Andrew J. Dabilis (April 13, 1986). "Switzler Drive Put Together in 4​1⁄2 Hours". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  4. ↑ "Former Governor King decides not to challenge Dukakis again next fall". Providence Journal. Associated Press. January 24, 1986. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  5. ↑ Bruce Mohl (March 14, 1986). "GOP'S Hyatt Announces Candidacy for Governor". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  6. ↑ Bruce Mohl (April 14, 1986). "GOP'S Gears Set in Motion; Switzler Plots Strategy, Signals Hyatt Should Quit". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  7. ↑ Bruce Mohl (June 5, 1986). "ACCUSATIONS, TURMOIL SWIRL OVER SWITZLER". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  8. ↑ Bruce Mohl (October 18, 1986). "ADS DEPICT TAX CAP AS A HYATT PROPOSAL". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  9. ↑ "Hey, gang! It's all over!". Nashua Telegraph. July 17, 1986. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
  10. ↑ "Sign's '?' on Governor Answered, Massachusetts G.O.P. Seeks End to Slide". New York Times. February 16, 1986. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
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