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1958 Massachusetts general election

← 1956 November 4, 1958 1960 →
Part of the 1958 United States elections

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A Massachusetts general election was held on November 4, 1958, 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 on September 9, 1958.

Democrat Foster Furcolo was re-elected over Republican Charles Gibbons, Socialist Labor candidate Henning A. Blomen, and Prohibition candidate Guy S. Williams.

George Fingold was the only candidate in the Republican primary, however he died nine days before the primary.^[1] Gibbons won the nomination as a write-in candidate.^[2]

1958 Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor election

← 1956 1960 →

Nominee Robert F. Murphy Elmer C. Nelson Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,112,001 711,362 Percentage 60.3% 38.6%

Lieutenant Governor before election Robert F. Murphy Democratic Elected Lieutenant Governor Robert F. Murphy Democratic

Democrat Robert F. Murphy was re-elected Lieutenant Governor over Republican Elmer C. Nelson, Socialist Labor candidate Francis A. Votano, and Prohibition candidate Harold E. Bassett.

• Robert F. Murphy, incumbent Lieutenant Governor

Lt. Governor Murphy was unopposed for renomination.

• Elmer C. Nelson, former Chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party

Nelson was unopposed for the Republican nomination.

1958 Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Robert F. Murphy	1,112,001	60.34%	9.11
	Republican	Elmer C. Nelson	711,362	38.60%	9.24
	Socialist Labor	Francis A. Votano	11,230	0.61%	0.02
	Prohibition	Harold E. Bassett	8,300	0.45%	0.06
Total votes			1,842,893	100.00%

1958 Massachusetts Attorney General election

← 1956 1960 →

Nominee Edward J. McCormack Jr. Christian A. Herter Jr. Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 973,303 888,385 Percentage 52.0% 47.5%

Attorney General before election George Fingold Republican Elected Attorney General Edward J. McCormack Jr. Democratic

Incumbent attorney general George Fingold ran for Governor instead of seeking reelection. He died on August 31, 1958, and Edward J. McCormack Jr., who won the Democratic primary over Endicott Peabody, was chosen by the Massachusetts General Court to finish his term.

McCormack defeated Republican Christian A. Herter Jr., Socialist Workers candidate Charles A. Couper, and Prohibition candidate Gustaf B. Nissan in the general election.

• Edward J. McCormack Jr., former Boston City Council member and nominee for Attorney General in 1956
• Endicott Peabody, former Governor Council member from Lawrence

1958 Democratic primary^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward J. McCormack Jr.	238,477	54.63%
	Democratic	Endicott Peabody	198,016	45.37%
	Write-in		12	0.00%
Total votes			436,505	100.00%

1958 Massachusetts Attorney General election^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Edward J. McCormack Jr.	973,303	52.01%	3.15
	Republican	Christian A. Herter Jr.	888,385	47.47%	3.11
	Socialist Workers	Charles A. Couper	6,048	0.32%	0.03
	Prohibition	Gustaf B. Nissan	3,598	0.19%	0.01
	Write-in		11	0.00%
Total votes			1,871,345	100.00%

1958 Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth election

← 1956 1960 →

Nominee Edward J. Cronin Marion Curran Boch Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,136,783 668,217 Percentage 62.4% 36.7%

Secretary of the Commonwealth before election Edward J. Cronin Democratic Elected Secretary of the Commonwealth Edward J. Cronin Democratic

Incumbent Secretary of the Commonwealth Edward J. Cronin defeated Republican Marion Curran Boch, Socialist Labor candidate Fred M. Ingersoll, and Prohibition candidate Julia Kohler in the general election.

1958 Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth election^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Edward J. Cronin (incumbent)	1,136,783	62.38%	8.98
	Republican	Marion Curran Boch	668,217	36.67%	9.08
	Socialist Workers	Fred M. Ingersoll	9,547	0.52%	0.11
	Prohibition	Julia Kohler	7,814	0.43%	0.02
	Write-in		1	0.00%

Cronin died 20 days after the election.^[5]

1958 Massachusetts Treasurer election

← 1956 1960 →

Nominee John Francis Kennedy John Yerxa Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,140,765 684,954 Percentage 62.0% 37.2%

Treasurer and Receiver-General before election John Francis Kennedy Democratic Elected Treasurer and Receiver-General John Francis Kennedy Democratic

Incumbent Treasurer and Receiver-General John Francis Kennedy defeated Woburn Mayor William G. Shaughnessy in the Democratic primary and Republican State Senator John Yerxa, Socialist Labor candidate John Erlandsson, and Prohibition candidate Warren Carberg in the general election.

• John Francis Kennedy, incumbent Treasurer
• William G. Shaughnessy, mayor of Woburn

1958 Democratic Treasurer primary^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Francis Kennedy (incumbent)	256,155	61.78%
	Democratic	William G. Shaughnessy	158,447	38.22%
Total votes			414,602	100.00%

1958 Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver-General election^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Francis Kennedy (incumbent)	1,140,765	62.00%	8.96
	Republican	John Yerxa	684,954	37.23%	9.03
	Socialist Workers	John Erlandsson	7,814	0.42%	0.07
	Socialist Workers	Warren Carberg	6,382	0.34%	0.01
	Write-in		25	0.00%

Incumbent Auditor Thomas J. Buckley defeated Republican Thomas H. Adams, Socialist Labor candidate Arne Sortell, and Prohibition candidate John B. Lauder in the general election.

1958 Massachusetts Auditor election^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Thomas J. Buckley (incumbent)	1,150,267	63.26%	6.07
	Republican	Thomas H. Adams	654,808	36.01%
	Socialist Workers	Arne Sortell	7,698	0.42%
	Prohibition	John B. Lauder	5,621	0.31%

Democrat John F. Kennedy was re-elected over Republican Vincent J. Celeste, Socialist Labor candidate Lawrence Gilfedder, and Prohibition candidate Mark R. Shaw.