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The 1954 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1954. Republican Governor Christian Herter was re-elected, defeating Democrat Robert F. Murphy, Socialist Labor candidate Lawrence Gilfedder, and Prohibition candidate Guy S. Williams.
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.
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.
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In the race for Lieutenant Governor, Republican Sumner G. Whittier defeated Democrat James A. Burke, Prohibition candidate Donald E. Babcock, 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.
Sumner Gage Whittier was an American politician who served two two-year terms as the 58th Lieutenant Governor for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 1953 to 1957. He was the Republican candidate for Governor in 1956, but lost to Democrat Foster Furcolo. He was then appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to head the U.S. Veterans Administration, a position he held until 1961. Thereafter he headed SSI at the Social Security Administration in Baltimore and worked there until age 80.
James Anthony Burke was a United States Representative from Massachusetts from 1959 to 1979.
