1978 Massachusetts general election

← 1976 November 7, 1978 1980 →
Part of the 1978 United States elections

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v t e

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.

Governor and 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

1978 Massachusetts Attorney General election

← 1974 1982 →

Nominee Francis Bellotti Bill Weld Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,532,835 421,417 Percentage 78.4% 21.6%

Attorney General before election Francis Bellotti Democratic Elected Attorney General Francis Bellotti Democratic

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

Massachusetts Attorney General Election, 1978 ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Francis X. Belotti (incumbent)	1,532,835	78.43%	28.76
	Republican	Bill Weld	421,417	21.56%	27.15
	Write-in		64	0.01%	0.01
Total votes			1,954,316	100.00%

Secretary of the Commonwealth

1978 Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth election

← 1974 1982 →

Nominee Michael J. Connolly John W. Sears Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,115,409 744,488 Percentage 60.0% 40.0%

Secretary of the Commonwealth before election Paul Guzzi Democratic Elected Secretary of the Commonwealth Michael J. Connolly Democratic

Incumbent Secretary of the Commonwealth Paul Guzzi sought election to the U.S. Senate, leaving his office vacant for the next term.

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.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Michael J. Connolly, State Representative from Roslindale
• David E. Crosby
• John Fulham
• William J. Galvin Jr., son of former Boston City Council President William J. Galvin
• James W. Hennigan Jr., former State Senator from Jamaica Plain and member of the Boston School Committee
• Lois Pines, State Representative from Newton
• Anthony J. Vigliotti, Worcester County Registrar of Deeds

General election

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Election, 1978 ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Michael J. Connolly	1,115,409	59.96%	4.53
	Republican	John W. Sears	744,488	40.02%	4.53
	Write-in		169	0.02%	0.02

Treasurer and Receiver-General

1978 Massachusetts Treasurer election

← 1974 1982 →

Nominee Robert Q. Crane Lewis Crampton Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,125,960 743,231 Percentage 60.2% 39.76%

Treasurer and Receiver-General before election Robert Q. Crane Democratic Elected Treasurer and Receiver-General Robert Q. Crane Republican

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.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Lawrence Blacke
• Paul Cacchiotti
• Robert Q. Crane, incumbent Treasurer and Receiver-General since 1964
• Lawrence DiCara, President of the Boston City Council
• Thomas Lopes, State Representative from New Bedford
• Dayce Moore

Results

Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver-General Election, 1978 ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Robert Q. Crane (incumbent)	1,125,960	60.24%	39.72
	Republican	Lewis Crampton	743,231	39.76%	N/A
	Write-in		67	0.00%	0.03
Total votes			1,869,258	100.00%

Auditor

1978 Massachusetts Auditor election

← 1974 1982 →

Nominee Thaddeus Buczko Timothy O'Brien Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,189,562 643,096 Percentage 64.9% 35.1%

Auditor before election Thaddeus M. Buczko Democratic Elected Auditor Thaddeus M. Buczko Democratic

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 anti-abortion 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]

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Thaddeus M. Buczko, incumbent Auditor
• Peter Meade, former Boston Parks Commissioner

Results

General election

Massachusetts Auditor General Election, 1978 ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Thaddeus M. Buczko (incumbent)	1,189,562	64.91%	35.08
	Republican	Timothy F. O'Brien	643,096	35.09%	N/A
	Write-in		48	0.00%	0.01
Total votes			1,832,658	100.00%

United States Senator

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