Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1982

Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1982

November 2, 1982

Nominee Michael Dukakis John W. Sears Party Democratic Republican Running mate John Kerry Leon Lombardi Popular vote 1,219,109 749,679 Percentage 59.48% 36.57%

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.

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.

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.

Results

Democratic primaries

1982 Massachusetts Democratic gubernatorial primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Michael Dukakis	631,911	53.49%
	Democratic	Edward J. King	549,335	46.50%
Majority			82,576	6.99%

1982 Massachusetts Democratic Lt. gubernatorial primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Kerry	325,890	29.00%
	Democratic	Evelyn Murphy	286,378	25.48%
	Democratic	Samuel Rotondi	228,086	20.29%
	Democratic	Lou Nickinello	150,829	13.42%
	Democratic	Lois Pines	132,734	11.81%
Majority			39,512	3.52%

Republican primaries

1982 Massachusetts Republican gubernatorial primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John W. Sears	90,617	50.71%
	Republican	John Lakian	46,675	26.12%
	Republican	Andrew Card	40,899	22.95%
Majority			43,942	24.59%

General election

1982 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Michael Dukakis (John Kerry)	1,219,109	59.48%
	Republican	John W. Sears (Leon Lombardi)	749,679	36.57%
	Independent	Frank Rich (John Davies)	63,068	3.08%
	Libertarian	Rebecca Shipman (Norman MacConnell, Jr.)	17,918	0.87%
Majority			469,430	22.91%

References

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