Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1982

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Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1982
Flag of Massachusetts.svg
  1978 November 2, 1982 1986  
Turnout 82.51% Increase2.svg 3.54 [1]

  Governor Dukakis speaks at the 1976 Democratic National Convention (cropped).jpg No image.svg
Nominee Michael Dukakis John W. Sears
Party Democratic Republican
Running mate John Kerry Leon Lombardi
Popular vote1,219,109749,679
Percentage59.48%36.57%

1982 MA Governor.png
Results by town. Red indicates towns carried by John W. Sears, blue indicates towns carried by Michael Dukakis.

Governor before election

Edward J. King
Democratic

Elected Governor

Michael Dukakis
Democratic

The 1982 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1982. Michael Dukakis was elected to a second non-consecutive term. He beat Republican John W. Sears in the General election, after defeating Incumbent Governor Edward J. King in the Democratic primary.

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.

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.

John W. Sears American politician

John Winthrop Sears was an American lawyer, historian and politician. His great-great-grandfather was David Sears II. He is the grandson of seven time National tennis champion Richard Dudley Sears and the first cousin once removed of Eleonora Sears. Sears is an alumnus of St. Mark's School, Harvard College during which he spent a year as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, and Harvard Law School.

Contents

Primaries

Governor

Former Governor Michael Dukakis challenged incumbent Governor Edward J. King in a rematch of the 1978 Democratic primary. This time Dukakis was victorious, defeating King 53–47%.

Former Suffolk County sheriff and Boston city councilman John Winthrop Sears defeated businessman John Lakian and State Representative Andrew Card for the Republican nomination. [2]

John Lakian is a businessman and former gubernatorial candidate of Massachusetts. He has founded several businesses, and served on the board on many others. He had an unsuccessful run for governor that resulted in a high-profile lawsuit in 1982, and an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate in 1994. Lakian served in Vietnam and was awarded a Bronze Star.

Andrew Card U.S. Secretary of Transportation, White House Chief of Staff

Andrew Hill Card Jr. is an American politician who was White House Chief of Staff under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2006, as well as head of Bush's White House Iraq Group. Card served as United States Secretary of Transportation under President George H. W. Bush from 1992 to 1993.

Lt. Governor

Incumbent Lt. Governor Thomas P. O'Neill III did not run for re-election. Former Navy Lieutenant and anti-war activist John Kerry won a five way contest for the Democratic nomination. State Representative Leon Lombardi was the Republican nominee.

Thomas P. ONeill III Massachusetts politician

Thomas Phillip O'Neill III leads a public relations and government affairs firm called O'Neill and Associates in Boston. He is the son of Mildred Anne Miller and Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill Jr., who served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987.

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.

Leon J. Lombardi is an American attorney and politician who served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1977–1983 and as the Chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party from 1990-1992. He was the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1982. He was appointed an associate justice of the Massachusetts Land Court Department by Gov. William Weld in 1995 and retired in 2008.

Results

Democratic primaries

1982 Massachusetts Democratic gubernatorial primary
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Democratic Michael Dukakis 631,91153.49%
Democratic Edward J. King 549,33546.50%
Majority82,5766.99%
1982 Massachusetts Democratic Lt. gubernatorial primary
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Democratic John Kerry 325,89029.00%
Democratic Evelyn Murphy 286,37825.48%
Democratic Samuel Rotondi 228,08620.29%
Democratic Lou Nickinello 150,82913.42%
Democratic Lois Pines 132,73411.81%
Majority39,5123.52%

Republican primaries

1982 Massachusetts Republican gubernatorial primary
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Republican John W. Sears 90,61750.71%
Republican John Lakian 46,67526.12%
Republican Andrew Card 40,89922.95%
Majority43,94224.59%

General election

1982 Massachusetts gubernatorial election
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Democratic Michael Dukakis (John Kerry)1,219,10959.48%
Republican John W. Sears (Leon Lombardi)749,67936.57%
Independent Frank Rich (John Davies)63,0683.08%
Libertarian Rebecca Shipman (Norman MacConnell, Jr.)17,9180.87%
Majority469,43022.91%

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References