Massachusetts general election, 1978

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A Massachusetts general election was held on November 7, 1978 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 September 14, 1978.

Statewide elections

United States Senator

Democratic Democratic Congressman Paul E. Tsongas was elected over incumbent Republican Edward Brooke.

Governor & Lieutenant Governor

Democrats Edward J. King and Thomas P. O'Neill III were elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor, respectively, over Republican candidates Francis W. Hatch, Jr. and William I. Cowin.

Attorney General

Democrat Francis X. Belotti was elected Attorney General. He defeated Republican William Weld in the general election.

Secretary of the Commonwealth

State Representative Michael J. Connolly defeated Lois Pines, Anthony J. Vigliotti, James Hennigan, David E. Crosby, William J. Galvin, Jr., and John Fulham in the Democratic primary and Republican John W. Sears in the general election.

Treasurer and Receiver-General

Incumbent Treasurer and Receiver-General Robert Q. Crane defeated Lawrence DiCara, Paul Cacchiotti, Dayce Moore, Thomas Lopes, and Lawrence Blacke in the Democratic Primary and Republican Lewis Crampton in the general election.

Auditor

Incumbent Auditor Thaddeus M. Buczko defeated Peter Meade in the Democratic primary and Republican Timothy F. O'Brien in the general election.

O'Brien replaced William A. Casey as the Republican nominee after Casey dropped out of the race. After conservative Edward J. King defeated Michael Dukakis for the Democratic nomination for governor, Casey chose to drop-out and support the pro-life King over the pro-choice Republican nominee Francis Hatch.^[6]

O'Brien was selected by the State Committee over attorney Ralph Barbagallo, Jr. and William Sargent, the son of former Governor Francis W. Sargent.^[6]

References