1982 Massachusetts elections

1982 Massachusetts general election

November 2, 1982
Part of the 1982 United States elections

A Massachusetts general election was held on November 2, 1982 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, 1982.

Governor & Lieutenant Governor

Further information: Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1982

Democrats Michael Dukakis and John Kerry were elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor, respectively, over Republican candidates John W. Sears and Leon Lombardi.

Attorney general

1982 Massachusetts Attorney General election

Nominee Francis Bellotti Richard L. Wainwright Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,555,400 375,557 Percentage 78.2% 18.9%

County results Bellotti:      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%

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

Democrat Francis X. Belotti was elected Attorney General. He defeated Republican Richard L. Wainwright and Libertarian Michael Reilly in the general election.

Massachusetts Attorney General Election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Francis X. Belotti (incumbent)	1,555,400	78.25%	0.18
	Republican	Richard L. Wainwright	375,557	18.89%	2.67
	Libertarian	Michael Reilly	56,835	2.86%	N/A
	Write-in		36	0.00%	0.01
Total votes			1,987,828	100.00%

Secretary of the Commonwealth

1982 Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth election

Nominee Michael J. Connolly Jody DeRoma Dow Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,368,314 455,975 Percentage 72.6% 24.2%

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

Incumbent Secretary of the Commonwealth Michael J. Connolly defeated Republican Jody DeRoma Dow and Libertarian Robin D. Zazula in the general election.

Candidates

• Michael J. Connolly, incumbent Secretary of the Commonwealth (Democratic)
• Jody Deroma Dow (Republican)
• Robin Zazula (Libertarian)

Results

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Michael J. Connolly (incumbent)	1,368,314	72.62%	12.66
	Republican	Jody DeRoma Dow	455,975	24.20%	15.82
	Libertarian	Robin D. Zazula	60,003	3.18%	N/A
	Write-in		43	0.00%	0.02
Total votes			1,884,335	100.00%

Treasurer and Receiver-General

1982 Massachusetts Treasurer election

Nominee Robert Q. Crane Mary J. LeClair Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,338,150 506,200 Percentage 70.4% 26.6%

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 Barnstable County Treasurer Mary J. LeClair and Libertarian Freda L. Nason in the general election.

Candidates

• Robert Q. Crane, incumbent Treasurer and Receiver-General (Democratic)
• Mary J. LeClair, Barnstable County Treasurer (Republican)
• Freda L. Nason (Libertarian)

Results

Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver-General Election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Robert Q. Crane (incumbent)	1,338,150	70.42%	10.18
	Republican	Mary J. LeClair	506,200	26.64%	13.12
	Libertarian	Freda L. Nason	55,763	2.93%	N/A
	Write-in		57	0.03%	0.03
Total votes			1,900,170	100.00%

Auditor

1982 Massachusetts Auditor election

Nominee John J. Finnegan Michael S. Robertson Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,225,427 535,463 Percentage 66.9% 29.3%

Auditor before election John J. Finnegan Democratic Elected Auditor John J. Finnegan Democratic

Incumbent Auditor John J. Finnegan defeated Republican Michael S. Robertson and Libertarian Donald E. Washburn in the general election.

Candidates

• John J. Finnegan, interim Auditor since 1981 (Democratic)
• Michael S. Robertson, nominee for U.S. Senate in 1976 (Republican)
• Donald E. Washburn (Libertarian)

Results

Massachusetts Auditor General Election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John J. Finnegan (incumbent)	1,225,427	66.94%	2.03
	Republican	Michael S. Robertson	535,463	29.25%	5.84
	Libertarian	Donald E. Washburn	69,795	3.81%	N/A
	Write-in		31	0.00%
Total votes			1,830,685	100.00%

United States Senator

Further information: Massachusetts United States Senate election, 1982

Democratic incumbent Ted Kennedy was re-elected over Republican Ray Shamie and Libertarian Howard S. Katz.

Ballot questions

Question 1

Proposed Amendment to the Constitution - The proposed constitutional amendment would remove the constitutional prohibition against the use of public funds to aid or maintain private primary or secondary schools.

Proposed Legislative Amendment to the Constitution

Candidate		Votes	%	±
	Yes	708,034	37.90%
✓	No	1,160,130	62.10%

Question 2

Proposed Amendment to the Constitution - The proposed constitutional amendment would allow the legislature to enact laws authorizing the state courts to impose the death penalty on the conviction of crimes to be specified by the law.

Proposed Legislative Amendment to the Constitution

Candidate		Votes	%	±
✓	Yes	1,131,668	60.02%
	No	748,549	39.98%

Question 3

Law Proposed by Initiative Petition - would require that before the construction or operation of any nuclear power plant or low-level radioactive waste storage or disposal facility in the Commonwealth, the legislature must make certain findings and a majority of voters must approve the facility at a statewide election.

Law Proposed by Initiative Petition

Candidate		Votes	%	±
✓	Yes	1,249,462	67.45%
	No	602,955	32.55%

Question 4

Referendum on an Existing Law - The law requires that a refundable deposit be paid for certain beverage containers sold in Massachusetts.

Referendum on an Existing Law

Candidate		Votes	%	±
✓	Yes	1,143,955	59.10%
	No	791,846	40.90%

External links

• "Nov 2, 1982 general election", PD43+ Massachusetts Election Statistics, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts