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 County results Shapp: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Lewis: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The1974 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 5. IncumbentDemocraticGovernorMilton Shapp defeatedRepublicanDrew Lewis. Under the state's 1968 constitution, Shapp was the first governor who was eligible to run for consecutive terms.[1][2]
Incumbent Governor Shapp easily dispelled a spirited challenge fromMartin Mullen, a state representative from Philadelphia who was well known as a firebrand conservative opponent of abortion and pornography.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Milton Shapp (incumbent) | 729,201 | 70.41% | |
| Democratic | Martin Mullen | 199,613 | 19.27% | |
| Democratic | Harvey Johnston | 106,474 | 10.28% | |
| Total votes | 1,035,288 | 100.00% | ||
With a short Republican bench, wealthy staffing executiveDrew Lewis was the only serious contender in the race.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Drew Lewis | 534,637 | 76.67% | |
| Republican | Alvin Jacobson | 97,072 | 13.91% | |
| Republican | Leonard Strunk | 63,868 | 9.15% | |
| Total votes | 695,577 | 100.00% | ||
Shapp's popularity had waned somewhat since his comfortable victory in 1970; although he could claim to have saved the state from bankruptcy, he did so at the expense of large tax increases. Furthermore, Shapp, an unabashed liberal, had difficulty rekindling support from the state's rural, socially conservative regions. However, Shapp and Democrats as a whole received a significant boost from theWatergate scandal; with PresidentRichard Nixon's popularity in a tailspin, many of the top tier Republicans declined to run. Instead, the party turned to the wealthy businessman Lewis, who was able to project an "outsider" image. Lewis focused on local issues and greatly undercut Shapp in rural areas; despite lagging at the polls in traditional Democratic strongholds such asPittsburgh andScranton, Shapp preserved a moderate victory by winning the combined vote of suburban Philadelphia, an unexpected accomplishment for a Democrat at the time.[5]
| Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1974[6][7] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Democratic | Milton Shapp(Incumbent) | Ernie Kline(Incumbent) | 1,878,252 | 53.66% | |
| Republican | Drew Lewis | Ken Lee | 1,578,917 | 45.11% | |
| Constitutional | Stephen Depue | Ellis Werft | 33,691 | 0.96% | |
| Socialist Workers | Roberta Scherr[a] | Fred Stanton | 8,980 | 0.26% | |
| Write-ins | Write-in | 374 | 0.01% | ||
| Total votes | 3,500,214 | 100.00% | |||
| Voter turnout (Voting age population) | 63.31% | ||||
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