1950 Massachusetts elections

The 1950 Massachusetts general election was held on November 7, 1950, throughout Massachusetts. Primary elections took place on September 19.

At the federal level, Republicans maintained their majority in the state by holding eight of fourteen seats in the United States House of Representatives. Incumbents were re-elected in each House seat.

In the race for Governor, Democratic incumbent Paul Dever was re-elected over former Lieutenant Governor Arthur W. Coolidge.

Democratic incumbents swept the six elections for statewide offices.

Governor

Democratic incumbent Paul A. Dever was reelected over Republican Arthur W. Coolidge, Socialist Labor candidate Horace Hillis, and Prohibition candidate Mark R. Shaw.

Lieutenant governor

Democratic incumbent Charles F. Sullivan was reelected over Republican Laurence Curtis and Socialist Labor candidate Lawrence Gilfedder.

Democratic primary

Candidates

William N. Bergan, Hull selectman
G. Edward Bradley, Mayor of Somerville
John Francis Cahill, former Democratic State Committee Chair
J. Frank Murphy
Charles F. Sullivan, incumbent Lieutenant Governor

Results

1950 Democratic Lt. gubernatorial primary^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Charles F. Sullivan (incumbent)	196,638	52.68%
	Democratic	G. Edward Bradley	55,176	14.78%
	Democratic	J. Frank Murphy	49,095	13.15%
	Democratic	John Francis Cahill	47,635	12.76%
	Democratic	William N. Bergan	24,718	6.62%
Total votes			373,262	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Laurence Curtis, former Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts
Warren G. Harris, former Governor's Councilor
Daniel E. McLean, former Mayor of Beverly
Harris S. Richardson, State Senator
Robert W. Welch, Jr., businessman and founder of the John Birch Society

Results

1950 Republican Lt. gubernatorial primary^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Laurence Curtis	162,506	46.73%
	Republican	Robert W. Welch, Jr.	59,073	16.99%
	Republican	Harris S. Richardson	52,994	15.24%
	Republican	Daniel E. McLean	40,492	11.64%
	Republican	Warren G. Harris	32,677	9.40%
Total votes			347,742	100.00%

General election

Massachusetts Lt. gubernatorial election, 1950 ^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Charles F. Sullivan (incumbent)	982,014	52.64%
	Republican	Laurence Curtis	870,542	46.66%
	Socialist Labor	Lawrence Gilfedder	13,009	0.70%
Total votes			1,865,565	100.00%

Attorney general

Incumbent Francis E. Kelly attorney general defeated Benjamin F. Chesky, Eli Y. Krovitsky, Isadore H. Y. Muchnick in the Democratic primary and Republican Frederick Ayer Jr., Socialist Workers candidate Anthony Martin, and Prohibition candidate Howard B. Rand in the general election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Benjamin F. Chesky
Francis E. Kelly, incumbent Attorney General
Eli Y. Krovitsky
Isadore H. Y. Muchnick, member of the Boston School Committee

Results

1950 Massachusetts Attorney General Democratic Primary^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Francis E. Kelly (incumbent)	292,450	76.74%
	Democratic	Isadore H. Y. Muchnick	60,708	15.94%
	Democratic	Benjamin F. Chesky	15,416	4.04%
	Democratic	Eli Y. Krovitsky	12,471	3.27%
Total votes			381,045	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Frederick Ayer Jr., Republican Party fundraiser and nephew of George S. Patton
Edward Butterworth, former State Representative
George Fingold, member of the Malden City Council
Edwin W. Hadley, professor at Northeastern University School of Law
Frank F. Walters

Results

1950 Massachusetts Attorney General Republican Primary^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Frederick Ayer Jr.	117,256	34.94%
	Republican	George Fingold	101,037	30.11%
	Republican	Edward Butterworth	60,738	18.10%
	Republican	Edwin W. Hadley	36,534	10.88%
	Republican	Frank F. Walters	19,971	5.95%
	Write-in	All others	2	0.00%
Total votes			335,538	100.00%

General election

1950 Massachusetts Attorney General Election^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Francis E. Kelly (incumbent)	957,262	51.87%
	Republican	Frederick Ayer Jr.	868,871	47.08%
	Socialist Labor	Anthony Martin	13,237	0.71%
	Prohibition	Howard B. Rand	5,888	0.31%
	Write-in	All others	8	0.00%
Total votes			1,845,266	100.00%

Secretary of the Commonwealth

Democratic primary

Candidates

Anthony L. Bruno
Stephen J. Carr
Edward J. Cronin, incumbent Secretary of the Commonwealth
Martin Graham
Paul V. Shaughnessy, member of the Waltham School Committee
Alfred L. Smith
Alfred R. Vitale
John F. Welch

Results

1950 Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Democratic Primary^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward J. Cronin (incumbent)	190,380	52.97%
	Democratic	Stephen J. Carr	38,418	10.69%
	Democratic	Paul V. Shaughnessy	36,085	10.04%
	Democratic	Anthony L. Bruno	31,277	8.70%
	Democratic	John F. Welch	22,063	6.13%
	Democratic	Alfred R. Vitale	18,796	5.23%
	Democratic	Alfred L. Smith	12,369	3.43%
	Democratic	Martin Graham	10,053	2.79%
	Write-in	All others	1	0.00%
Total votes			359,442	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

John Adams
William B. Bailey, former State Representative
Henry Clay
Douglas Lawson
Ranny Weeks, bandleader
Russell A. Wood, former Massachusetts Auditor and State Representative
Ada F. York

Results

1950 Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Republican Primary^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Russell A. Wood	84,052	25.77%
	Republican	Randall W. "Ranny" Weeks	61,931	18.99%
	Republican	John Adams	55,637	17.06%
	Republican	William B. Bailey	49,589	15.20%
	Republican	Douglas Lawson	35,696	10.94%
	Republican	Henry Clay	23,931	7.33%
	Republican	Ada F. York	15,238	4.67%
Total votes			326,074	100.00%

General election

1950 Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Election^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward J. Cronin (incumbent)	1,004,632	54.89%
	Republican	Russell A. Wood	801,162	43.78%
	Socialist Labor	Fred M. Ingersoll	13,398	0.73%
	Prohibition	Ellsworth J. M. Dickson	10,743	0.58%
	Write-in	All others	2	0.00%
Total votes			1,829,937	100.00%

Treasurer and Receiver-General

Republican primary

Candidates

Fred J. Burrell, former Treasurer and Receiver-General
Roy C. Papalia, Watertown selectman

Results

1950 Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver-General Republican Primary^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Fred J. Burrell	194,784	59.00%
	Republican	Roy C. Papalia	135,321	40.99%
	Write-in	All others	1	0.00%
Total votes			330,106	100.00%

General election

1950 Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver-General Election^[6]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	John E. Hurley (incumbent)	1,101,367	60.27%
Republican	Fred J. Burrell	702,604	38.45%
Socialist Labor	Henning A. Blomen	11,968	0.65%
Prohibition	Harold J. Ireland	11,289	0.61%
Write-in	All others	17	0.00%

Auditor

Republican primary

Candidates

William G. Andrew, former interim district attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Warren A. Rood

Results

1950 Massachusetts State Auditor Republican Primary^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William G. Andrew	238,762	86.02%
	Republican	Warren A. Rood	38,797	13.97%
	Write-in	All others	1	0.00%
Total votes			277,560	100.00%

General election

1950 Massachusetts Auditor General Election^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Thomas J. Buckley (incumbent)	1,082,350	59.21%
	Republican	William G. Andrew	724,058	39.61%
	Socialist Labor	Francis A. Votano	13,498	0.73%
	Prohibition	Robert A. Simmons	7,844	0.42%
	Write-in		2	0.00%
Total votes			1,827,752	100.00%

References

[DemocraticLtGovernor-1] Election Statistics; The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1950.

[RepublicanLt.Governor-2] Election Statistics; The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1950.

[3] Election Statistics; The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1950.

[4] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1950. p. 60.

[5] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1950. p. 169.

[General-6] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1950. p. 5.

[7] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1950. p. 54.

[8] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1950. p. 150.

[9] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1950. p. 157.

[10] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1950. p. 163.

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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.

Governor

Lieutenant governor

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

General election

Attorney general

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

General election

Secretary of the Commonwealth

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

General election

Treasurer and Receiver-General

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

General election

Auditor

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

General election

See also

References