1974 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

The 1974 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1974. Michael Dukakis was elected to a four-year term, from January 2, 1975 until January 4, 1979. He defeated incumbent Governor of Massachusetts Francis W. Sargent in the general election.

1974 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

← 1970 November 5, 1974 1978 →
Turnout	74.64% 0.53
Nominee Michael Dukakis Francis Sargent Party Democratic Republican Running mate Thomas O'Neill III Donald Dwight Popular vote 992,284 784,353 Percentage 53.50% 42.29%
County results Municipality results Dukakis:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Sargent:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Governor before election Francis Sargent Republican Elected Governor Michael Dukakis Democratic

Primary elections were held on September 10. In the Republican primary, Sargent defeated a challenge from former Commerce Commissioner Carroll Sheehan. In the Democratic primary, former State Representative Michael Dukakis defeated Attorney General Robert H. Quinn.

The election was dominated by the Watergate scandal and resignation of President Richard Nixon on August 8 and the Boston desegregation busing crisis, including Sargent's May 10 decision to block repeal of the 1965 Racial Imbalance Act and the June 21 court ruling in Morgan v. Hennigan, in which federal judge W. Arthur Garrity Jr. found mandated desegregation busing in Boston schools.

As of 2025, this is the most recent year in which the incumbent governor of Massachusetts lost the general election^[a] and the earliest gubernatorial election in Massachusetts to feature a gubernatorial candidate (Michael Dukakis) who is still alive today.

Republican primary

Governor

Candidates

• Francis Sargent, incumbent governor
• Carroll Sheehan, former State Commerce Commissioner

Campaign

In February 1974, Sheehan announced that he would challenge Sargent for the Republican nomination for governor. Sheehan blamed Sargent for high taxes and dirty and dangerous streets. He referred to the Sargent administration as "administrative experimenters and social tinkerers", singling out Secretary of Human Services Peter C. Goldmark, Jr. and former Corrections Commissioner John Boone. Although there was a large anti-Sargent sentiment, Sheehan was unable to translate it into support for his candidacy. After he publicly claimed Governor's Councilor Raymond Fontana would run on his ticket, Fontana declined to join the race.

At the Republican Convention on June 1, Sheehan had a surprisingly strong showing, gaining 32.5% of the convention votes.

Although Sargent held a large lead in the polls in late August, the Governor believed that there was a chance that he could lose the Republican primary and he requested that state party chairman William Barnstead call a special meeting of the Republican State Committee so he and Sheehan could debate before them and have one of them receive the party's endorsement. Barnstead declined to call the special meeting "for the convenience of the Governor" and said that any debate between Sargent and Sheehan should be held publicly. The Republican State Committee hosted a public debate on September 5 without any endorsement. The debate was televised by WCVB-TV.

Results

1974 Massachusetts Republican gubernatorial primary^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Francis W. Sargent (incumbent)	124,250	63.32%
	Republican	Carroll Sheehan	71,936	36.66%
	Write-in	All others	46	0.02%

Lieutenant governor

Incumbent lieutenant governor Donald R. Dwight was unopposed in the Republican Primary.

Democratic primary

Governor

Candidates

• Michael Dukakis, former state representative from Brookline and nominee for lieutenant governor in 1970
• Robert H. Quinn, attorney general

Results

Primary results by municipality

1974 Massachusetts Democratic gubernatorial primary^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Michael Dukakis	444,590	57.67%
	Democratic	Robert H. Quinn	326,385	42.33%
	Write-in	All others	46	0.01%

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

• Thomas P. O'Neill III, state representative and son of U.S. Representative Tip O'Neill
• Christopher A. Iannella, Boston City Councillor
• Eva Hester, Democratic National Committeewoman
• John P. Lynch, Hampden County Register of Deeds and candidate for U.S. Senate in 1972
• Thomas Martin Sullivan, resident of Randolph

Results

1974 Massachusetts Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial primary^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Thomas P. O'Neill III	250,259	35.69%
	Democratic	Christopher A. Iannella	190,587	27.18%
	Democratic	Eva Hester	97,665	13.93%
	Democratic	John P. Lynch	81,874	11.68%
	Democratic	Thomas Martin Sullivan	80,745	11.52%
	Write-in	All others	15	0.00%

General election

Dukakis defeated Sargent by 207,931 votes. It was the first gubernatorial victory for the Massachusetts Democratic Party since 1962.

Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1974^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Michael Dukakis (Thomas P. O'Neill III)	992,284	53.50%
	Republican	Francis W. Sargent (Donald R. Dwight) (incumbent)	784,353	42.29%
	American	Leo F. Kahian (Nicholas J. Greco)	63,083	3.40%
	Socialist Workers	Donald Gurewitz (Ollie Bivins)	15,011	0.81%

Results by county

1974 United States gubernatorial election in Massachusetts (by county) [5]
County	Dukakis %	Dukakis #	Sargent %	Sargent #	Others %	Others #	Total #
Barnstable	39.9%	19,362	54.7%	26,539	5.4%	2,641	48,542
Berkshire	54.2%	26,947	40.4%	20,105	5.4%	2,682	49,734
Bristol	62.6%	91,839	32.1%	47,055	5.4%	7,876	146,770
Dukes	36.4%	1,346	59.1%	2,189	4.5%	167	3,702
Essex	52.1%	117,815	42.6%	96,475	5.3%	12,056	226,346
Franklin	53.2%	11,666	41.5%	9,087	5.3%	1,168	21,921
Hampden	63.6%	84,222	30.9%	40,978	5.5%	7,257	132,457
Hampshire	59.2%	24,051	33.7%	13,691	7.1%	2,889	40,631
Middlesex	51.0%	243,914	44.2%	211,511	4.8%	22,938	478,363
Nantucket	36.2%	537	58.4%	865	5.4%	80	1,482
Norfolk	48.1%	110,701	45.4%	104,375	6.5%	14,859	229,935
Plymouth	46.7%	54,781	44.9%	52,738	8.4%	9,811	117,330
Suffolk	45.6%	85,343	39.3%	73,491	15.1%	28,208	187,042
Worcester	56.5%	119,820	40.2%	85,254	3.4%	7,152	212,226

See also

• 1973–1974 Massachusetts legislature

Notes

1. Two governors, Dukakis and Edward J. King, lost the Democratic nomination to each other in 1978 and 1982, respectively. In 2002, acting Governor Jane Swift ran for election but withdrew after polls showed her trailing Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination.