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| Turnout | 74.64% 0.53 | |||||||||||||||||||
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 County results Municipality resultsDukakis: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Sargent: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The1974 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 incumbentGovernor of MassachusettsFrancis W. Sargent in the general election.
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 RepresentativeMichael Dukakis defeated Attorney GeneralRobert H. Quinn.
The election was dominated by theWatergate scandal andresignation of President Richard Nixon on August 8 and theBoston desegregation busing crisis, including Sargent's May 10 decision to block repeal of the 1965 Racial Imbalance Act and the June 21 court ruling inMorgan v. Hennigan, in which federal judgeW. Arthur Garrity Jr. found mandateddesegregation 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.
In February 1974, Sheehan announced that he would challenge Sargent for theRepublican 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 ServicesPeter 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 chairmanWilliam 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 byWCVB-TV.
| 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% | ||
Incumbent lieutenant governorDonald R. Dwight was unopposed in the Republican Primary.
| 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% | ||
| 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% | ||
Dukakis defeated Sargent by 207,931 votes. It was the first gubernatorial victory for the Massachusetts Democratic Party since 1962.
| 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% | ||
| 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 |
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