1930 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

← 1928 November 4, 1930 (1930-11-04) 1932 →

Nominee Joseph B. Ely Frank G. Allen Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 606,902 590,238 Percentage 49.54% 48.18%

County results Ely:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Allen:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Governor before election Frank G. Allen Republican Elected Governor Joseph B. Ely Democratic

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v t e

The 1930 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1930.

Incumbent Republican governor Frank G. Allen was defeated by Democrat Joseph B. Ely. This election marked the beginning of a new era for the Massachusetts Democratic Party, starting a string of eight consecutive years of Democratic governors, a streak later surpassed from 1974 until 1986.

Republican primary

Candidates

• Frank G. Allen, incumbent governor
• John D. Devir, mayor of Malden

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

• John J. Cummings, former State Senator and nominee for lieutenant governor in 1924
• Joseph B. Ely, candidate for governor in 1922
• John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, former United States Representative, Mayor of Boston, and nominee for governor in 1922

Campaign

The Democratic primary featured a rematch of the 1922 primary between Joseph Ely and John Fitzgerald.This time, Ely won with 54.7% of the vote.

Fitzgerald was forced to withdraw late in the race due to illness, though his name remained on the ballot, and James Michael Curley encouraged a vote for Fitzgerald against the "anti-Irish" Ely.^[1] Ely had previously lost the nomination for lieutenant governor in 1926 to another Irish candidate who withdrew from the race, Harry Dooley.^[2]

Results

General election

Results

Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1930^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Joseph B. Ely	606,902	49.54%	0.73
	Republican	Frank G. Allen (incumbent)	590,238	48.18%	1.88
	Socialist Labor	John W. Aiken	14,603	1.19%	1.10
	Socialist	Alfred B. Lewis	8,222	0.67%	0.18
	Communist	Harry J. Canter	5,051	0.41%	0.12
	Write-in	All others	1	0.00%
Total votes			1,225,017	100.00%
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing	(({swing))}