1962 Massachusetts elections

A Massachusetts general election was held on November 6, 1962 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 18, 1962.

Governor

Democrat Endicott Peabody was elected over Republican incumbent John A. Volpe, Socialist Labor candidate Henning A. Blomen, and Prohibition candidate Guy S. Williams.

Lieutenant Governor

Democrat Francis X. Belotti was elected Lieutenant Governor over Republican Francis W. Perry, Socialist Labor candidate Francis A. Votano, and Prohibition candidate Gaetano T. Maratea.

Attorney General

Incumbent Attorney General Edward J. McCormack, Jr. did not run for re-election as he was a candidate for the United States Senate instead. Republican Edward Brooke was elected his successor over Democrat Francis E. Kelly. In so doing, Brooke became the first elected African-American Attorney General of any state in American history.^[1]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Francis E. Kelly, former Lieutenant Governor
James R. Lawton, State Representative from Brockton
Thomas L. McCormack
Margaret McGovern, attorney and candidate for Secretary of the Commonwealth in 1960
Matthew G. McGrath, Jr.

Results

Massachusetts Attorney General Democratic primary, 1962^[2]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	Francis E. Kelly	254,557	34.44%
Democratic	James R. Lawton	221,973	30.04%
Democratic	Margaret McGovern	146,067	19.77%
Democratic	Thomas L. McCormack	68,373	9.25%
Democratic	Matthew G. McGrath, Jr.	47,952	6.49%
Write-in		12	0.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Edward Brooke, Chairman of the Boston Finance Commission
Elliot Richardson, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts

Results

Massachusetts Attorney General Republican primary, 1962^[3]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Edward Brooke	238,147	54.88%
Republican	Elliot Richardson	195,791	45.12%
Write-in		14	0.00%

General election

In the general election, Brooke defeated Kelly, Socialist Workers candidate Edgar E. Gaudet, and Prohibition candidate Howard B. Rand.

Massachusetts Attorney General Election, 1962^[4]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Edward Brooke	1,143,065	55.98%
Democratic	Francis E. Kelly	883,710	43.28%
Socialist Workers	Edgar E. Gaudet	9,591	0.47%
Prohibition	Howard B. Rand	5,610	0.28%
Write-in		14	0.00%

Secretary of the Commonwealth

Incumbent Secretary of the Commonwealth Kevin White, defeated Republican Harris Reynolds, Socialist Labor candidate John Erlandson, and Prohibition candidate Julia Kohler in the general election.

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Election, 1962^[5]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	Kevin White	1,250,467	64.10%
Republican	Harris Reynolds	713,708	36.58%
Socialist Workers	John Erlandson	9,433	0.48%
Prohibition	Julia Kohler	7,201	0.40%
Write-in		2	0.00%

Treasurer and Receiver-General

Democratic primary

Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver-General Democratic Primary, 1962^[6]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	John T. Driscoll	464,731	65.98%
Democratic	John Francis Kennedy	190,522	27.05%
Democratic	John M. Kennedy	49,113	6.97%
Write-in		1	0.00%

Republican primary

Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver-General Republican Primary, 1962^[7]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	Joseph B. Grossman	282,765	70.59%
Republican	Francis Andrew Walsh	117,793	29.14%
Write-in		3	0.00%

General election

Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver-General Election, 1962^[8]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	John T. Driscoll	1,225,754	61.72%
Republican	Joseph B. Grossman	744,115	37.42%
Socialist Workers	Arne A. Sortell	9,039	0.46%
Prohibition	Isaac Goddard	7,074	0.36%
Write-in		6	0.00%

Auditor

Incumbent Auditor Thomas J. Buckley defeated Republican Phillip M. Walsh, Socialist Labor candidate Ethelbert Nevens, and Prohibition candidate Louise Metays in the general election.

Massachusetts Auditor General Election, 1962^[9]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	Thomas J. Buckley	1,343,625	67.65%
Republican	Phillip M. Walsh	627,701	31.60%
Socialist Workers	Ethelbert Nevens	8,874	0.45%
Prohibition	Louise Metays	5,973	0.30%
Write-in		9	0.00%

United States Senator

Democrat Ted Kennedy was elected over Republican George C. Lodge, Independent H. Stuart Hughes, Socialist Labor candidate Lawrence Gilfedder, and Prohibition candidate Mark R. Shaw in a special election to fill the unexpired term of John F. Kennedy, who was elected President of the United States.

References

^ "Former senator awarded Congressional Gold Medal". CNN. 2009-10-28. Archived from the original on 2010-11-15. Retrieved 2009-10-28.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) .
^ Massachusetts Election Statistics 1962. p. 173.
^ Massachusetts Election Statistics 1962. p. 65.
^ Massachusetts Election Statistics 1962. p. 288.
^ Massachusetts Election Statistics 1962. p. 294.
^ Massachusetts Election Statistics 1962. p. 182.
^ Massachusetts Election Statistics 1962. p. 182.
^ Massachusetts Election Statistics 1962. p. 299.
^ Massachusetts Election Statistics 1962. p. 305.

[cnn-1] "Former senator awarded Congressional Gold Medal". CNN. 2009-10-28. Archived from the original on 2010-11-15. Retrieved 2009-10-28.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) .

[2] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1962. p. 173.

[3] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1962. p. 65.

[4] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1962. p. 288.

[5] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1962. p. 294.

[6] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1962. p. 182.

[7] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1962. p. 182.

[8] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1962. p. 299.

[9] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1962. p. 305.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

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.