The 1938 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1938.
Former governor James Michael Curley defeated incumbent governor Charles F. Hurley in the Democratic primary, but Curley was defeated by former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Leverett Saltonstall in the general election.
Saltonstall's victory returned control of Beacon Hill to the Republicans after an unprecedented eight years of Democratic Governors.
Democratic primary
Governor
Candidates
Results
Lt. Governor
Candidates
- James Henry Brennan, former state senator and member of the Executive Council
- Edward T. Collins, Member of the Executive Council
- Alexander F. Sullivan, former state representative
- Joseph C. White, state senator
- William P. Yoerg, Mayor of Holyoke
Results
Republican primary
Governor
Candidates
Results
Following his loss in the Republican primary, McMasters declared his campaign as an independent on the Townsend Recovery Act line.
Lt. Governor
Candidates
Results
General election
Candidates
- Henning A. Blomen, perennial candidate (Socialist Labor)
- Roland S. Bruneau of Cambridge (independent)
- Jeffrey Campbell, black Universalist Unitarian minister (Socialist)
- James Michael Curley, former governor, Mayor of Boston, and U.S. Representative (Democratic)
- William A. Davenport, former state representative (Independent Tax Reform)
- Otis Archer Hood, candidate for governor in 1936 (Communist)
- Charles L. Manser of Boston (Sound, Sensible Government)
- William McMasters, publicity agent and whistleblower in the Charles Ponzi case (Townsend Recovery Act)
- Leverett Saltonstall, former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and nominee for Lt. Governor in 1936 (Republican)
- George L. Thompson, former Chairman of the New Hampshire Prohibition Party (Prohibition)
Results
See also
References
Bibliography