The
Massachusetts gubernatorial election of 2010 was held on November 2, 2010.
IncumbentThe incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
DemocraticThe Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
GovernorThe Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...
Deval PatrickDeval Laurdine Patrick is the 71st and current Governor of Massachusetts. A member of the Democratic Party, Patrick served as an Assistant United States Attorney General under President Bill Clinton...
was re-elected to a second term. Also competing were the
Republican PartyThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
nominee, businessman
Charlie BakerCharles Duane "Charlie" Baker, Jr. , is an American businessman and politician from Massachusetts. He was a cabinet official under two Massachusetts governors, spent ten years as CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and was the Republican candidate in the 2010 Massachusetts gubernatorial...
;
independentIn politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
candidate and
State TreasurerThe Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts is an executive officer, elected state-wide every four years....
Tim Cahill; and
Green-Rainbow PartyThe Green-Rainbow Party is a political party in Massachusetts. It is the Massachusetts state affiliate of the Green Party of the United States.-Establishment of official party status:...
nominee and physician
Jill SteinJill Stein is an American physician, activist, co-chair of the Green-Rainbow Party and candidate for President of the United States in 2012. Stein was a candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in the 2002 and the 2010 gubernatorial elections. Stein is a resident of Lexington, Massachusetts and a...
. Party
primariesA primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
were held on September 14, though all four candidates ran unopposed in their respective primaries. Tim Murray, who ran on a
ticketA ticket refers to a single election choice which fills more than one political office or seat. For example, in the U.S., the candidates for President and Vice President run on the same "ticket", because they are elected together on a single ballot question rather than separately.A ticket can also...
with Patrick was re-elected
Lieutenant GovernorThe Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts is the first in the line to discharge the powers and duties of the office of governor following the incapacitation of the Governor of Massachusetts...
.
Democrats
- Deval Patrick
Deval Laurdine Patrick is the 71st and current Governor of Massachusetts. A member of the Democratic Party, Patrick served as an Assistant United States Attorney General under President Bill Clinton...
, incumbent Governor, first elected in 2006The Massachusetts gubernatorial election of 2006 was held on November 7, 2006. Former US Assistant Attorney General Deval Patrick was elected to a four-year term, from January 4, 2007 until January 6, 2011. In his first elected office, Patrick is the second African-American governor in the United...
- Grace Ross
Grace Ross, is a Massachusetts activist. Ross was a Democratic candidate for governor of Massachusetts in 2010 until she left the race, citing a lack of signatures. She is from Worcester, Massachusetts...
, 2006 Green-Rainbow nominee for GovernorThe Massachusetts gubernatorial election of 2006 was held on November 7, 2006. Former US Assistant Attorney General Deval Patrick was elected to a four-year term, from January 4, 2007 until January 6, 2011. In his first elected office, Patrick is the second African-American governor in the United...
On June 1, 2010, Ross withdrew from the race when she could not garner the amount of signatures needed to run, leaving Patrick as the only candidate in the primary race going into the June 5 Democratic State Convention. Incumbent
Lieutenant GovernorThe Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts is the first in the line to discharge the powers and duties of the office of governor following the incapacitation of the Governor of Massachusetts...
Tim Murray was again his running mate.
Republicans
- Charlie Baker
Charles Duane "Charlie" Baker, Jr. , is an American businessman and politician from Massachusetts. He was a cabinet official under two Massachusetts governors, spent ten years as CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and was the Republican candidate in the 2010 Massachusetts gubernatorial...
, former secretary to Governors WeldWilliam Floyd Weld is a former governor of the US state of Massachusetts. He served as that state's 68th governor from 1991 to 1997. From 1981 to 1988, he was a federal prosecutor in the United States Justice Department...
and CellucciArgeo Paul Cellucci is an American politician and diplomat who served as the 69th Governor of Massachusetts and US Ambassador to Canada.-Early life and career:...
and CEOA chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of Harvard PilgrimHarvard Pilgrim is a not-for-profit health plan that provides a variety of insurance plan options and self-funding arrangements to more than one million members in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. Harvard Pilgrim was founded in 1969 out of the merger of the Harvard Community Health Plan and...
- Christy Mihos
Christy P. Mihos is an American politician and businessman from the U.S. commonwealth of Massachusetts. He was an Independent candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in 2006 and ran again as a Republican in the 2010 Massachusetts gubernatorial election...
, 2006 independent candidate for governor
Ahead of the April 2010 party convention, many Republican delegates preferred Harvard Pilgrim CEO
Charlie BakerCharles Duane "Charlie" Baker, Jr. , is an American businessman and politician from Massachusetts. He was a cabinet official under two Massachusetts governors, spent ten years as CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and was the Republican candidate in the 2010 Massachusetts gubernatorial...
to be the Republican nominee, however, there was support for
State SenatorThe Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the state...
Bob Hedlund, former State Treasurer
Joseph D. MaloneJoseph Daniel "Joe" Malone is an American businessman, former Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts, and a member of the Republican Party...
(who declined to instead run for Congress), and former Lieutenant Governor
Kerry HealeyKerry Murphy Healey was the 70th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. She served from 2003 to 2007 with Governor Mitt Romney. She was the 2006 Republican nominee for Governor of Massachusetts, losing to Democrat Deval Patrick in November 2006...
. In early 2009, two "draft" websites appeared encouraging Baker and U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan to run for governor.
Christy MihosChristy P. Mihos is an American politician and businessman from the U.S. commonwealth of Massachusetts. He was an Independent candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in 2006 and ran again as a Republican in the 2010 Massachusetts gubernatorial election...
announced his bid for governor on April 25, 2009 as a Republican; in 2006 he ran as an independent. Baker announced his candidacy on July 8, 2009, and went on to win the nomination at the state Republican Party convention, freeing him of a primary challenge from Christy Mihos, with 89 percent of the vote.
Richard R. TiseiRichard R. Tisei is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A Republican, he served in the Massachusetts state legislature for 26 years, most recently as the minority leader in the Massachusetts Senate...
was Baker's running mate.
Green-Rainbow Party
- Jill Stein
Jill Stein is an American physician, activist, co-chair of the Green-Rainbow Party and candidate for President of the United States in 2012. Stein was a candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in the 2002 and the 2010 gubernatorial elections. Stein is a resident of Lexington, Massachusetts and a...
, physician and co-chairperson of the Green-Rainbow PartyThe Green-Rainbow Party is a political party in Massachusetts. It is the Massachusetts state affiliate of the Green Party of the United States.-Establishment of official party status:...
, declared her candidacy on January 7, 2010. Her running mate was Richard P. Purcell, a surgery clerk and ergonomics assessor, of Holyoke.
Independents
- Tim Cahill, State Treasurer and Receiver-General. Cahill had won the 2006 treasurer's election as a Democrat, but changed his party to "unenrolled" (equivalent to "independent" in Massachusetts) so he could challenge Patrick in this election. Paul Loscocco
Paul J.P. Loscocco is a former Massachusetts Republican State Representative and candidate for Lieutenant Governor in the 2010 Massachusetts gubernatorial election....
, a former Republican State Representative, was his running mate. Loscocco announced that he would withdraw from the race on October 1, 2010, and endorse Republican candidate Charlie Baker. Loscocco formally remained on the ballot, however. Recently released e-mails suggest however, that Loscocco may have been enticed to leave the ticket. E-mails between Republican political consultants and Loscocco's top aide indicate that he would be offered a "substantive lifeline" in return for his defection.
Democratic primary
| Poll source |
Dates administered |
Deval Patrick |
Grace Ross |
| Suffolk University |
February 21–24, 2010 |
59% |
15% |
Republican primary
General election
| Poll source |
Dates administered |
Democratic
nominee |
Republican
nominee |
Green-Rainbow
nominee |
Independent
nominee |
| Deval Patrick |
Grace Ross |
Charlie Baker |
Christy Mihos |
Jill Stein |
Tim Cahill |
| Rasmussen Reports |
June 24, 2009 |
41% |
–– |
36% |
–– |
–– |
–– |
| 40% |
–– |
–– |
41% |
–– |
–– |
Boston Globe/UNH |
July 15–21, 2009 |
35% |
–– |
41% |
–– |
–– |
–– |
| 30% |
–– |
20% |
–– |
–– |
30% |
| 40% |
–– |
–– |
41% |
–– |
–– |
| 31% |
–– |
–– |
18% |
–– |
31% |
| Rasmussen Reports |
August 20, 2009 |
35% |
–– |
–– |
40% |
–– |
–– |
| Rasmussen Reports |
October 22, 2009 |
34% |
–– |
24% |
–– |
–– |
23% |
| 34% |
–– |
–– |
23% |
–– |
23% |
| Suffolk University |
November 4–8, 2009 |
38% |
–– |
15% |
–– |
–– |
26% |
| 36% |
–– |
–– |
20% |
–– |
26% |
| Rasmussen Reports |
November 23, 2009 |
33% |
–– |
28% |
–– |
–– |
25% |
| 32% |
–– |
–– |
26% |
–– |
28% |
| Boston Globe/UNH |
January 2–6, 2010 |
30% |
–– |
19% |
–– |
–– |
23% |
| 32% |
–– |
–– |
19% |
–– |
23% |
| Public Policy Polling |
January 7–9, 2010 |
29% |
–– |
27% |
–– |
–– |
21% |
| 28% |
–– |
–– |
21% |
–– |
25% |
| Suffolk University |
February 21–24, 2010 |
33% |
–– |
25% |
–– |
3% |
23% |
| 34% |
–– |
–– |
19% |
3% |
26% |
| Rasmussen Reports |
March 8, 2010 |
35% |
–– |
32% |
–– |
–– |
19% |
| 34% |
–– |
–– |
19% |
–– |
30% |
| Rasmussen Reports |
April 5, 2010 |
35% |
–– |
27% |
–– |
–– |
23% |
| 38% |
–– |
–– |
15% |
–– |
33% |
| Rasmussen Reports |
May 10, 2010 |
45% |
–– |
31% |
–– |
–– |
14% |
| –– |
27% |
32% |
–– |
16% |
| Suffolk University |
May 25, 2010 |
42% |
–– |
29% |
8% |
14% |
| Rasmussen Reports |
June 21, 2010 |
41% |
34% |
–– |
16% |
| Boston Globe/UNH |
June 17–23, 2010 |
38% |
31% |
2% |
9% |
| Rasmussen Reports |
July 22, 2010 |
38% |
32% |
–– |
17% |
| Statehouse News |
August 29–31, 2010 |
34% |
28% |
4% |
18% |
| Rasmussen Reports |
September 1, 2010 |
39% |
34% |
–– |
18% |
| Rasmussen Reports |
September 17, 2010 |
45% |
42% |
–– |
5% |
| Suffolk University / 7 News |
September 16–19, 2010 |
41% |
34% |
4% |
14% |
| Boston Globe/UNH |
September 17–22, 2010 |
35% |
34% |
4% |
11% |
| Western New England College |
September 19–23, 2010 |
39% |
33% |
3% |
16% |
| Rasmussen Reports |
September 30, 2010 |
47% |
42% |
— |
6% |
| Suffolk University 7 News |
October 10–12, 2010 |
46% |
39% |
1% |
10% |
| Public Opinion Strategies |
October 11–13, 2010 |
35% |
42% |
2% |
10% |
| Rasmussen Reports |
October 18, 2010 |
47% |
42% |
— |
6% |
| Western New England College |
October 22, 2010 |
44% |
36% |
5% |
8% |
| Boston Globe |
October 24, 2010 |
43% |
39% |
2% |
8% |
| Suffolk University/7News |
October 25–27, 2010 |
46% |
39% |
2% |
9% |
| Rasmussen Reports |
October 27, 2010 |
46% |
44% |
— |
6% |
| Western New England College |
October 24–28, 2010 |
42% |
37% |
3% |
11% |
|
| Results (for comparison) |
[November 2, 2010] |
[ 48.4% ] |
[ 42.0% ] |
[ 1.4% ] |
[ 8.0% ] |
Fundraising
As of October 31, 2010. Shading indicates candidate with the highest amount.
| Candidate (Party) |
Raised |
Spent |
Balance |
| Tim Cahill (I) |
$570,345.01 |
$277,655.73 |
$292,689.28 |
| Charlie Baker (R) |
$736,877.30 |
$491,089.99 |
$245,787.31 |
| Deval Patrick (D) |
$606,991.19 |
$459,858.16 |
$147,133.03 |
| Jill Stein (G) |
$64,454.75 |
$22,068.50 |
$42,386.25 |
Results
External links
Campaign