1970 Massachusetts elections

1970 Massachusetts general election

November 3, 1970
Part of the 1970 United States elections

The 1970 Massachusetts general election was held on November 3, 1970, throughout Massachusetts. Democratic and Republican candidates were selected in party primaries held September 15, 1970.

At the federal level, Ted Kennedy was re-elected to the United States Senate and ten of the commonwealth's twelve incumbents were re-elected to the United States House of Representatives. One retired and one lost re-nomination. No seats switched parties.

Incumbents seeking reelection won all major state offices: Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Auditor, and Treasurer.

Governor and lieutenant governor

Further information: 1970 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

Republicans Francis W. Sargent and Donald R. Dwight were elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor, respectively, over Democrats Kevin White and Michael Dukakis.

Attorney general

1970 Massachusetts Attorney General election

Nominee Robert H. Quinn Donald L. Conn Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,174,512 697,010 Percentage 62.2% 36.9%

Attorney General before election Robert H. Quinn Democratic Elected Attorney General Robert H. Quinn Democratic

Attorney General Robert H. Quinn, who was appointed by the Massachusetts General Court to fill the unexpired term of Elliot Richardson, was elected to a full term. He defeated Republican Donald L. Conn.

General election

Massachusetts Attorney General Election, 1970

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Robert H. Quinn (incumbent)	1,174,512	62.22%	14.91
	Republican	Donald L. Conn	697,010	36.92%	14.92
	Socialist Labor	Willy N. Hogseth	16,257	0.86%	0.86
	Write-in		24	0.00%
Total votes			1,887,803	0.00%

Secretary of the Commonwealth

1970 Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth election

Nominee John Davoren Mary B. Newman Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,001,528 831,150 Percentage 53.8% 44.7%

Secretary of the Commonwealth before election John Davoren Democratic Elected Secretary of the Commonwealth John Davoren Democratic

Secretary of the Commonwealth John Davoren, who was appointed by the Massachusetts General Court to fill the unexpired term of Kevin White, defeated Republican Mary B. Newman, Socialist Labor candidate Edgar E. Gaudet, and Prohibition candidate Murvin Becker in the general election.

General election

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Election, 1970

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Davoren (incumbent)	1,001,528	53.84%	16.19
	Republican	Mary B. Newman	831,150	44.68%	15.64
	Socialist Labor	Edgar E. Gaudet	17,445	0.94%	0.33
	Prohibition	Murvin Becker	10,165	0.55%	0.07
	Write-in		5	0.00%
Total votes			1,860,293	100.00%

Treasurer and Receiver-General

1970 Massachusetts Treasurer election

Nominee Robert Q. Crane Frederick Hannon Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,188,633 592,934 Percentage 65.6% 32.7%

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 Republican Frederick Hannon, Socialist Labor candidate Roy K. Nelson, and Prohibition candidate John B. Lauder in the general election.

General election

Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver-General Election, 1970

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Robert Q. Crane (incumbent)	1,188,633	65.61%	3.06
	Republican	Frederick Hannon	592,934	32.73%	3.26
	Socialist Labor	Roy K. Nelson	20,667	1.14%	0.16
	Prohibition	John B. Lauder	9,457	0.52%	0.04
	Write-in		6	0.00%

Auditor

1970 Massachusetts Auditor election

Nominee Thaddeus Buczko Frank P. Bucci Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,222,783 574,178 Percentage 66.9% 31.4%

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

Incumbent Auditor Thaddeus M. Buczko defeated Republican Frank P. Bucci, Socialist Labor candidate Raymond Gray, and Prohibition candidate Roger I. Williams in the general election.

Massachusetts Auditor General Election, 1970

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Thaddeus M. Buczko (incumbent)	1,222,783	66.87%	9.79
	Republican	Frank P. Bucci	574,178	31.40%	10.45
	Socialist Labor	Raymond Gray	18,184	0.99%	0.34
	Prohibition	Roger I. Williams	13,373	0.73%	0.31
	Write-in		2	0.00%

United States Senate

Further information: United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 1970

Democrat Ted Kennedy was re-elected to a second full term in office over Republican Josiah Spaulding.

United States House of Representatives

Further information: United States House of Representatives elections in Massachusetts, 1970

All of Massachusetts' twelve seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 2018.

Ten seats were won by candidates seeking re-election.

The 3rd District seat was won by Robert Drinan, who defeated incumbent Philip J. Philbin in the Democratic primary election. Philbin unsuccessfully campaigned as an independent candidate in the general election. The 9th District seat was won by Louise Day Hicks after incumbent John W. McCormack did not seek re-election.