1956 Massachusetts elections

1956 Massachusetts Attorney General election
← 1954 1958 →
Attorney General before election; George Fingold; Republican	Elected Attorney General ; George Fingold; Republican

1956 Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor election
← 1954 1958 →
Lieutenant Governor before election; Sumner Whittier; Republican	Elected Lieutenant Governor ; Robert F. Murphy; Democratic

A Massachusetts general election was held on November 6, 1956, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The election included:

statewide elections for 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 18, 1956.

Governor

Democrat Foster Furcolo was elected over Republican Sumner G. Whittier, Socialist Labor candidate Henning A. Blomen, and Prohibition candidate Mark R. Shaw.

Lieutenant governor

Incumbent lieutenant governor Sumner Whitter ran for governor.

Democrat Robert F. Murphy was elected lieutenant governor over Republican Charles Gibbons, Socialist Labor candidate Francis A. Votano, and Prohibition candidate Harold E. Bassett.

Republican primary

Candidates

Charles Gibbons, former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives

Results

Gibbons was unopposed for the Republican nomination.

Democratic primary

Candidates

James A. Burke, former state representative from Milton and candidate for lieutenant Gtovernor in 1954
Robert F. Murphy, former House Minority Leader and nominee for governor in 1954
George A. Wells, executive councilor

Results

1956 Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial primary^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robert F. Murphy	280,781	62.06%
	Democratic	James A. Burke	95,111	21.02%
	Democratic	George A. Wells	76,514	16.92%
Total votes			452,406	100.00%

General election

Results

Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1956
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Robert F. Murphy	1,158,704	51.23%	4.00
	Republican	Charles Gibbons	1,082,113	47.84%	4.17
	Socialist Labor	Francis A. Votano	13,286	0.59%	0.10
	Prohibition	Harold E. Bassett	7,894	0.39%	0.12
Total votes			2,261,997	100.00%

Attorney general

Republican attorney general George Fingold was re-elected over Democrat Edward J. McCormack Jr., Socialist Workers candidate Fred M. Ingersol, and Prohibition candidate Howard Rand in the general election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Edward J. McCormack Jr., president of the Boston City Council
Joseph D. Ward, State Representative from Fitchburg

Results

Massachusetts Attorney General Democratic Primary, 1956^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Edward J. McCormack Jr.	250,916	55.17%
	Democratic	Joseph D. Ward	203,923	44.83%
	Write-in		7	0.00%
Total votes			454,839	100.00%

General election

Candidates

George Fingold, incumbent attorney general (Republican)
Fred M. Ingersoll (Socialist Workers)
Edward J. McCormack Jr., president of the Boston City Council (Democratic)
Howard Rand (Prohibition)

Results

Massachusetts Attorney General Election, 1956^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George Fingold (incumbent)	1,152,348	50.58%
	Democratic	Edward J. McCormack Jr.	1,113,105	48.86%
	Socialist Workers	Fred M. Ingersoll	7,983	0.35%
	Prohibition	Howard Rand	4,779	0.20%
	Write-in		7	0.00%
Total votes			2,278,222	100.00%

Secretary of the Commonwealth

Incumbent Secretary of the Commonwealth Edward J. Cronin defeated Republican Senate President Richard I. Furbush, Prohibition candidate Earl Dodge, and Socialist Labor candidate Lawrence Gilfedder in the general election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Edward J. Cronin, incumbent Secretary of the Commonwealth
Robert Emmet Dinsmore

Results

1956 Secretary of the Commonwealth Democratic primary^[4]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	Edward J. Cronin (incumbent)	366,019	83.79%
Democratic	Robert Emmet Dinsmore	70,813	16.21%
Write-in		1	0.00%

General election

Candidates

Edward J. Cronin, incumbent Secretary of the Commonwealth (Democratic)
Earl Dodge, executive secretary of the Massachusetts Prohibition Party (Prohibition)
Richard I. Furbush, president of the Massachusetts Senate (Republican)
Lawrence Gilfedder (Socialist Workers)

Results

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Election, 1956^[3]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	Edward J. Cronin (incumbent)	1,196,746	53.40%
Republican	Richard I. Furbush	1,025,295	45.75%
Prohibition	Earl Dodge	10,030	0.45%
Socialist Workers	Lawrence Gilfedder	9,181	0.41%
Write-in		5	0.00%

Treasurer and receiver-general

Incumbent treasurer and receiver-general John Francis Kennedy defeated Norwood Selectman Clement A. Riley, John F. Buckley, John M. Kennedy, and Henry Joseph Hurley in the Democratic primary and Republican Robert H. Beaudreau, Socialist Labor candidate Willy N. Hogseth, and Prohibition candidate Isaac Goddard in the general election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

John F. Buckley
Henry Joseph Hurley
John Francis Kennedy, incumbent treasurer and receiver-general
John M. Kennedy
Clement A. Riley, Norwood selectman and candidate for treasurer in 1954

Results

1956 Treasurer and Receiver-General Democratic primary^[5]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	John Francis Kennedy (incumbent)	186,382	40.83%
Democratic	Clement A. Riley	127,242	27.87%
Democratic	John F. Buckley	72,019	15.79%
Democratic	John M. Kennedy	43,925	9.62%
Democratic	Henry Joseph Hurley	26,881	5.89%
Write-in		1	0.00%

General election

Candidates

Robert H. Beaudreau, U.S. Marshal for the District of Massachusetts (Republican)
Isaac Goddard (Prohibition)
Willy N. Hogseth (Socialist Workers)
John Francis Kennedy, incumbent treasurer and receiver-general (Democratic)

Results

Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver-General Election, 1956^[3]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	John Francis Kennedy (incumbent)	1,196,626	53.04%
Republican	Robert H. Beaudreau	1,043,812	46.26%
Socialist Workers	Willy N. Hogseth	7,970	0.35%
Prohibition	Issac Goddard	7,887	0.35%
Write-in		5	0.00%

Auditor

Incumbent auditor Thomas J. Buckley defeated Republican Joseph A. Nobile, Socialist Labor candidate Anthony Martin, and Prohibition candidate John B. Lauder in the general election.

General election

1946 Auditor election^[3]
	Candidate	Votes	%
Democratic	Thomas J. Buckley (incumbent)	1,278,635	57.19%
Republican	Joseph A. Nobile	937,570	41.94%
Socialist Workers	Anthony Martin	13,353	0.60%
Prohibition	John B. Lauder	6,153	0.28%
Write-in		4	0.00%

References

^ Election Statistics. 1956.
^ Massachusetts Election Statistics 1956. p. 247.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Massachusetts Election Statistics 1956. p. 5.
^ Massachusetts Election Statistics 1956. p. 233.
^ Massachusetts Election Statistics 1956. p. 238.

[1] Election Statistics. 1956.

[2] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1956. p. 247.

[General-3] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1956. p. 5.

[4] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1956. p. 233.

[5] Massachusetts Election Statistics 1956. p. 238.

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v t e State elections in Massachusetts
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Governor	1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 (April) 1831 (November) 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1868 1869 1870 1871 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
Mass. Senate	1787 1788 ... 1824 ... 1908 ... 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
Mass. House	2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
Gov.'s Council	2002 2006 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024
"s/" = Special election See also: Political party strength in Massachusetts For federal elections, see Template:Federal elections in Massachusetts footer.