1948 Massachusetts general election

The 1948 Massachusetts general election was held on November 2, 1948, throughout Massachusetts. Primary elections took place on September 14.

At the federal level, Republican Leverett Saltonstall was re-elected to the United States Senate, and Republicans won eight of fourteen seats in the United States House of Representatives.

In the race for Governor, Republican incumbent Robert F. Bradford lost re-election to former Attorney General Paul Dever. Democrats swept the six statewide offices, defeating incumbents in five races.

Governor

Republican Governor Robert F. Bradford was defeated by Democratic former Attorney General Paul Dever in a landslide.

Lieutenant Governor

In the race for lieutenant governor, Democratic Mayor of Worcester defeated incumbent Republican Arthur W. Coolidge.

Declared

• Charles F. "Jeff" Sullivan, Mayor of Worcester[1]
• Benedict FitzGerald, attorney[1]
• Edward P. Barry[1]

Results

1948 Democratic Lt. gubernatorial primary[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Charles F. Sullivan	127,948	48.05%
	Democratic	Benedict FitzGerald	99,712	37.44%
	Democratic	Edward P. Barry	38,637	14.51%
Total votes			266,297	100.00%

General election

Massachusetts Lt. gubernatorial election, 1948 [2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Charles F. Sullivan	1,163,041	56.69%	7.38
	Republican	Arthur W. Coolidge	870,864	42.45%	6.86
	Socialist Labor	Lawrence Gilfedder	12,127	0.59%	0.05
	Prohibition	Guy S. Williams	5,457	0.27%	0.07
Total votes			2,051,489	100.00%

Secretary of the Commonwealth

Incumbent Republican Secretary of the Commonwealth Frederic W. Cook ran for re-election to a record fifteenth two-year term in office, but was narrowly defeated by Democrat Edward J. Cronin.

The Socialist Labor Party nominated Gote E. Palmquist.

Democratic primary

1948 Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Democratic Primary[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward J. Cronin	148,545	61.82%
	Democratic	Jerome P. Troy	93,362	35.94%
	Write-in	All others	2	0.00%
Total votes			241,909	100.00%

General election

1948 Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Election[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Edward J. Cronin	1,011,397	49.98%	9.62
	Republican	Frederic W. Cook	997,764	49.30%	10.01
	Socialist Labor	Gote E. Palmquist	14,416	0.71%	0.23
	Write-in	All others	1	0.00%
Total votes			2,023,578	100.00%

Attorney General

Incumbent Republican Attorney General Clarence A. Barnes ran for re-election to a third consecutive term. He was defeated Democratic former Lt. Governor Francis E. Kelly in the general election. This was a re-match of the 1946 election.

Democratic primary

1948 Massachusetts Attorney General Democratic Primary[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Francis E. Kelly	98,370	35.94%
	Democratic	Patrick Gilbert Sullivan	66,395	24.26%
	Democratic	John F. Kelley	63,678	23.27%
	Democratic	Enrico Cappucci	45,227	16.53%
	Write-in	All others	5	0.00%
Total votes			273,675	100.00%

General election

1948 Massachusetts Attorney General Election[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Francis E. Kelly	1,077,504	53.26%	8.50
	Republican	Clarence A. Barnes	927,779	45.86%	8.23
	Socialist Labor	Anthony Martin	17,649	0.87%	0.08
	Write-in	All others	10	0.00%
Total votes			2,022,942	100.00%

Treasurer and Receiver-General

Incumbent Republican Treasurer and Receiver-General Laurence Curtis ran for re-election to a second term but was defeated by Democratic former Treasurer Francis E. Kelly. This was a re-match of the 1946 election.

The Prohibition Party nominated Harold J. Ireland, and the Socialist Labor party nominated Malcolm T. Rowe.

1948 Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver-General Election[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John E. Hurley	1,120,989	55.21%	9.32
	Republican	Laurence Curtis	888,767	43.78%	9.16
	Socialist Labor	Malcolm T. Rowe	13,087	0.64%	0.14
	Prohibition	Harold J. Ireland	7,279	0.36%	0.06
	Write-in	All others	4	0.00%
Total votes			2,030,126	100.00%

Auditor

Incumbent Democratic Auditor Thomas J. Buckley ran for re-election to a fifth term in office. He was re-elected in a landslide over Republican Russell A. Wood, who was also the nominee in 1946. This was a re-match of the much closer 1946 election.

The Prohibition Party nominated Robert A. Simmons, and the Socialist Labor Party nominated Francis A. Votano.

Republican primary

1948 Massachusetts State Auditor Republican Primary[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Russell A. Wood	91,768	40.18%
	Republican	Edwin L. Olander	81,109	35.51%
	Republican	Douglas Lawson	41,497	18.17%
	Republican	Wallace E. Stearns	14,025	6.14%
	Write-in	All others	0	0.00%
Total votes			228,399	100.00%

General election

1948 Massachusetts Auditor General Election[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Thomas J. Buckley	1,241,653	61.58%	11.82
	Republican	Russell A. Wood	752,430	37.32%	11.72
	Socialist Labor	Francis A. Votano	12,510	0.62%	0.27
	Prohibition	Robert A. Simmons	6,916	0.34%	0.03
	Write-in	All others	5	0.00%
Total votes			2,016,214	100.00%

United States Senate

Incumbent Republican Senator Leverett Saltonstall ran for re-election to a full term in office. Saltonstall won the seat in the 1944 special election created by Henry Cabot Lodge Jr's resignation.

General election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Leverett Saltonstall	1,088,475	52.95%	11.34
	Democratic	John I. Fitzgerald	954,398	46.43%	11.53
	Socialist Labor	Henning A. Blomen	9,266	0.44%	0.20
	Prohibition	E. Tallmadge Root	3,652	0.18%	0.01
Total votes			2,055,791	100.00%

United States House of Representatives

All of Massachusetts' fourteen seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 1946.

Eight seats were won by Republican Party incumbents, and six were won by Democratic candidates.

Thirteen seats were won by candidates seeking re-election. The 2nd District seat (based in Springfield) was won by Democrat Foster Furcolo over incumbent Republican Charles R. Clason.

References

1. Election Statistics; The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1948.
2. Election Statistics; The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1948.
3. Massachusetts Election Statistics 1948. p. 228.
4. Massachusetts Election Statistics 1948. p. 3.
5. Massachusetts Election Statistics 1948. p. 239.
6. Massachusetts Election Statistics 1948. p. 153.

External links