1954 Massachusetts elections

1954 Massachusetts general election

← 1952

November 2, 1954

1956 →

Part of the
1954 United States elections

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Boston

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Springfield

A Massachusetts general election was held on November 2, 1954 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The election included:

statewide elections for United States Senator, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Treasurer, and Auditor;
district elections for U.S. Representatives, State Representatives, State Senators, and Governor's Councillors; and
ballot questions at the state and local levels.

Democratic and Republican candidates were selected in party primaries held on September 14, 1954.

Governor

Republican Christian A. Herter was re-elected over Democrat Robert F. Murphy, Socialist Labor candidate Lawrence Gilfedder, and Prohibition candidate Guy S. Williams.

Lieutenant governor

Republican Sumner G. Whittier was re-elected lieutenant governor over Democrat James A. Burke, Socialist Labor candidate Francis A. Votano, and Prohibition candidate Donald E. Babcock.

Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1954
	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Sumner G. Whittier	972,745	52.01%
Democratic	James A. Burke	883,440	47.23%
Socialist Labor	Francis A. Votano	9,215	0.49%
Prohibition	Donald E. Babcock	5,067	0.27%

Attorney general

Republican attorney general George Fingold was re-elected over Democratic State Senator John F. Collins, Socialist Workers candidate Malcolm T. Rowe, and Prohibition candidate Howard B. Rand in the general election.

Massachusetts Attorney General Election, 1954^[1]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	George Fingold (incumbent)	950,865	51.22%
Democratic	John F. Collins	893,825	48.16%
Socialist Workers	Malcolm T. Rowe	6,004	0.32%
Prohibition	Howard B. Rand	5,425	0.29%
Write-in		1	0.00%

Secretary of the Commonwealth

Incumbent Secretary of the Commonwealth Edward J. Cronin defeated Republican state representative Michael J. McCarthy, Socialist Labor candidate Fred M. Ingersoll, and Prohibition candidate William D. Ross in the general election.

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Election, 1954^[1]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	Edward J. Cronin (incumbent)	1,018,428	55.62%
Republican	Michael J. McCarthy	793,121	43.32%
Socialist Workers	Fred M. Ingersoll	10,613	0.58%
Prohibition	William D. Ross	8,833	0.48%
Write-in		1	0.00%

Treasurer and Receiver-General

Incumbent Treasurer and Receiver-General Foster Furcolo ran for a U.S. Senate seat instead of seeking re-election. John Francis Kennedy defeated Norwood Selectman Clement A. Riley and State Representative and Boston School Committee Chair William F. Carr in the Democratic primary and Republican Augustus Gardner Means, Socialist Labor candidate Henning A. Blomen, and Prohibition candidate Isaac Goddard in the general election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

William F. Carr, Boston School Committee chair and former State Representative from South Boston
John Francis Kennedy, Gillette stockroom supervisor
Clement A. Riley, Norwood selectman

Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver-General Democratic Primary, 1954^[2]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	John Francis Kennedy	124,884	36.84%
Democratic	Clement A. Riley	110,221	32.53%
Democratic	William F. Carr	103,857	30.63%
Write-in		3	0.00%

General election

Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver-General Election, 1954^[1]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	John Francis Kennedy	1,004,145	54.37%
Republican	Augustus Gardner Means	830,263	44.96%
Socialist Workers	Henning A. Blomen	7,325	0.40%
Prohibition	Issac Goddard	5,069	0.27%
Write-in		1	0.00%

Auditor

Incumbent Auditor Thomas J. Buckley defeated Republican state representative William P. Constantino, Socialist Labor candidate Anthony Martin, and Prohibition candidate John B. Lauder in the general election.

Massachusetts Auditor Election, 1954^[1]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	Thomas J. Buckley (incumbent)	1,075,162	58.69%
Republican	William P. Constantino	741,082	40.45%
Socialist Workers	Anthony Martin	9,483	0.52%
Prohibition	John B. Lauder	6,198	0.34%
Write-in		2	0.00%

U.S. Senator

Republican Leverett Saltonstall was re-elected over Democrat Foster Furcolo, Socialist Labor candidate Thelma Ingersoll, and Prohibition candidate Harold J. Ireland.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Massachusetts Election Statistics 1954. p. 5.
^ Massachusetts Election Statistics 1954. p. 131.

v t e State elections in Massachusetts
General	1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1982 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
Governor	1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 (April) 1831 (November) 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1868 1869 1870 1871 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Mass. Senate	1787 1788 ... 1824 ... 1908 ... 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
Mass. House	2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
Gov.'s Council	2002 2006 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024
"s/" = Special election See also: Political party strength in Massachusetts For federal elections, see Template:Federal elections in Massachusetts footer.