The 1986 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986.

Michael Dukakis Michael Stanley Dukakis (; born November 3, 1933) is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history a ...

was elected

Governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces. Massachusetts ...

for a third term. He defeated

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

George Kariotis George S. Kariotis (February 22, 1923 – July 7, 2013) was an American businessman who was the Republican Party nominee for Governor of Massachusetts in 1986. Kariotis was born on February 22, 1923. He was the son of Greek immigran ...

by a 69–31% margin. This would be the last time a Democrat was elected governor until 2006. This remains the last time that the Democrats won more than two consecutive gubernatorial elections in the state. The race between Dukakis and Kariotis is the only time that the two major parties backed Greek immigrants for governor.

Democratic primary

Governor

Candidates

, incumbent governor Michael Dukakis was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Lieutenant Governor

Candidates

Gerard D'Amico Gerard D'Amico is an American politician who served in the Massachusetts Senate from 1977 to 1987 and was a member of the Worcester, Massachusetts School Committee from 1972 to 1976. He was a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1 ...

, State Senator from

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

Evelyn Murphy Evelyn Murphy (born May 14, 1940) is an American businesswoman and politician who was the 67th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts from 1987 to 1991, being the first woman in the history of the state to hold a constitutional office. She is now th ...

, former Secretary of Environmental Affairs and candidate for Lt. Governor in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 1982, did not run for reelection as he had been elected to the United States Senate in 1984.

Results

Republican primary

Governor

Candidates

*George Kariotis, businessman and former Secretary of Economic Affairs

=Withdrew

= *Greg Hyatt, lawyer and candidate for

Massachusetts's 5th congressional district Massachusetts's 5th congressional district is a congressional district in eastern Massachusetts. The district is represented by Katherine Clark. Massachusetts congressional redistricting after the 2010 census has changed the borders of the distri ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

* Royall H. Switzler, State Representative from Wellesley

=Eliminated at convention

= *

Guy Carbone Guy A. Carbone is an American attorney and Perennial candidate in Massachusetts who was Metropolitan District Commissioner from 1979–1980. Electoral history Other races *Massachusetts gubernatori ...

, former Metropolitan District Commissioner

=Declined

= * Paul W. Cronin, former U.S. Representative for

* Edward J. King, former Democratic governor

Campaign

On March 13, Greg Hyatt became the first Republican to enter the gubernatorial race. A self-described "populist conservative", Hyatt supported limiting state taxes, bringing back the death penalty, and competency testing and merit pay for teachers. He opposed the state law that made wearing a seat belt mandatory, the use of roadblocks to crack down on drunken driving, and the use of public funds for abortions. Shortly before the Republican convention, Boston attorney and former Metropolitan District Commissioner

entered the race. The convention nomination was won by Royall H. Switzler, a state representative who had been drafted by anti-Hyatt Republicans after former Congressman Paul W. Cronin decided not to enter the race. To receive the endorsement of the party, a candidate must receive the support of 50% of the delegates. Only candidates receiving 15% of the vote or more on any ballot would be eligible for a primary. After a strong showing on the first ballot, some of Hyatt's major supporters, including

Ray Shamie Raymond Shamie (June 7, 1921 – October 16, 1999) was an American politician and businessman from Massachusetts. Shamie served as the chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party and was twice the Republican nominee for the United States Senat ...

and

Papa Gino's Papa Gino's, Inc. is a restaurant chain based in Dedham, Massachusetts, specializing in traditional thin crust pizza along with pasta, subs, salads, and a variety of appetizers. As of 2022, there are 80 Papa Gino's locations in Connecticut, Mass ...

founder Michael Valerio, announced that they would not oppose Switzler's endorsement. On the second ballot, Switzler won the nomination with 975 votes. Since Carbone did not exceed 15% of the vote on either ballot, he was eliminated. {, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" ! colspan="5" , State Republican Convention results, 1986 , - style="background:#eee; text-align:center;" ! scope="col" style="width: 12em" , Candidate ! scope="col" style="width: 5em" , First ballot ! scope="col" style="width: 5em" , Pct. ! scope="col" style="width: 5em" , Second ballot ! scope="col" style="width: 5em" , Pct. , - !scope="row, , style="text-align:center;", 775 , style="text-align:center;", 40.28% , style="text-align:center;", 975 , style="text-align:center;", 51.02% , - ! scope="row" , , style="text-align:center;", 891 , style="text-align:center;", 46.31% , style="text-align:center;", 876 , style="text-align:center;", 45.84% , - !scope="row, , style="text-align:center;", 258 , style="text-align:center;", 13.41% , style="text-align:center;", 60 , style="text-align:center;", 3.14% , - Despite losing the nomination, Hyatt chose to stay in the race and run against Switzler in the Republican primary. However, Switzler dropped out of the race in June after inaccuracies about his military record were revealed. He had falsely claimed to be a member of the

United States Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service Berets of the United States Army, headgear, are a special operations special operations force, force of the United States Ar ...

and stated that he had fought in Vietnam when he had only visited Vietnam on leave from noncombat duty in Korea. Hyatt then dropped out of the race on July 14 amid accusations of forging names on his nomination papers, having ties to organized crime, and erratic personal behavior which included working nude in his office. Businessman and former Secretary of Economic Affairs George Kariotis entered the race after both candidates dropped out. Because the filing deadline for the election was on March 1, Hyatt and Switzler remained on the ballot while Kariotis was forced to run a write in campaign. Hyatt won the election, but he and Switzler, who finished second, declined the nomination and Kariotis was declared the nominee.

Results

Due to the fact that both listed candidates had dropped out of the race, the Republican primary saw extremely low turnout.

Lieutenant Governor

Candidates

* Nicholas M. Nikitas, hotel operator, real estate developer, and Republican Party activist

General election

Results

Dukakis won a convincing victory over Kariotis. He increased his margins across the state, winning all 14 counties with a majority, even as total vote numbers were down sharply from the previous election. Soon after being sworn in for his third term as governor, Dukakis began to run for the Democratic nomination for president in 1988.

Results by county

{, class="wikitable sortable" ! colspan="8" , 1986 United States presidential election in Massachusetts (by county) https://electionstats.state.ma.us/elections/search/year_from:1972/year_to:2020/office_id:1/stage:General , - ! County ! Dukakis - D % ! Dukakis - D # ! Kariotis - R % ! Kariotis - R # ! Others % ! Others # ! Total # , - , , Barnstable , , 59.7% , , 41,644 , , 35.3% , , 24,641 , , 4.9% , , 3,449 , , 69,734 , - , ,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, , 76.5% , , 33,753 , , 20.2% , , 8,910 , , 3.2% , , 1,432 , , 44,095 , - , ,

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, , 72.4% , , 97,813 , , 23.1% , , 31,188 , , 4.6% , , 6,181 , , 135,182 , - , ,

Dukes Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

, , 76.4% , , 3,642 , , 20.9% , , 994 , , 2.7% , , 129 , , 4,765 , - , ,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, , 63.2% , , 130,975 , , 31.1% , , 64,437 , , 5.7% , , 11,761 , , 207,173 , - , ,

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

, , 72.4% , , 15,745 , , 24.2% , , 5,259 , , 3.4% , , 738 , , 21,742 , - , , Hampden , , 69.4% , , 81,467 , , 26.3% , , 30,881 , , 4.3% , , 5,099 , , 117,447 , - , ,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, , 70.0% , , 28,500 , , 24.7% , , 10,038 , , 5.3% , , 2,169 , , 40,707 , - , ,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, , 64.3% , , 291,618 , , 29.9% , , 135,699 , , 5.7% , , 25,922 , , 453,239 , - , ,

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

, , 73.2% , , 1,567 , , 23.7% , , 507 , , 3.1% , , 67 , , 2,141 , - , ,

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, , 61.9% , , 128,741 , , 32.7% , , 67,923 , , 5.5% , , 11,340 , , 208,004 , - , ,

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, , 58.6% , , 71,100 , , 36.5% , , 44,291 , , 5.0% , , 6,021 , , 121,412 , - , ,

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, , 69.0% , , 108,995 , , 23.6% , , 37,223 , , 7.4% , , 11,677 , , 157,895 , - , ,

, , 63.1% , , 122,216 , , 32.7% , , 63,373 , , 4.2% , , 8,141 , , 193,730

References

{{United States elections, 1986

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

Gubernatorial A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

Michael Dukakis

Democratic primary

Governor

Candidates

Lieutenant Governor

Candidates

Results

Republican primary

Governor

Candidates

=Withdrew

=Eliminated at convention

=Declined

Campaign

Results

Lieutenant Governor

Candidates

General election

Results

Results by county

See also

References