1994 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

Template:ElectionsMA The 1994 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1994. Incumbent Republican governor Bill Weld won reelection as Governor of Massachusetts by the largest margin in state history, winning every single county and all but 6 of the state's 351 municipalities. As of 2024, this is the most recent election in which Boston, Somerville, Lawrence, Chelsea, Brookline, Northampton, Provincetown, Monterey, Great Barrington, Ashfield, Williamstown, Williamsburg, Shelburne, Sunderland, and Pelham voted for the Republican candidate for governor.

Republican primary

Governor

Candidates

• Bill Weld, incumbent governor

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

• Paul Cellucci, incumbent lieutenant governor

Incumbent governor Bill Weld and Lieutenant Governor Paul Cellucci were unopposed for renomination.

Democratic primary

Governor

Candidates

• George A. Bachrach, former state senator from Watertown
• Michael J. Barrett, state senator from Cambridge
• Mark Roosevelt, state representative from the Back Bay and member of the Roosevelt family

In 1987, Barrett succeeded Bachrach as the senator from the Middlesex and Suffolk District. The district was composed of Cambridge, Belmont, Watertown, and the Allston-Brighton neighborhood of Boston.

Declined

• Joseph P. Kennedy II, U.S. representative (1987–1999)

In 1993 a Boston Globe poll showed Kennedy within one percentage point of popular incumbent William Weld in a hypothetical gubernatorial match-up, prompting prominent state Democrats to try and recruit him for the race. Though no other Democrat was polling near Weld, Kennedy decided to forgo the race and remain in Congress.

Results

File:Massachusetts Democratic gubernatorial primary results by municipality, 1994.svg

Primary results by municipality

Massachusetts Democratic Gubernatorial Primary, 1994

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
		Mark Roosevelt		47.91%
		George Bachrach		26.86%
		Michael J. Barrett		24.77%
Total votes				100.00%

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

• Bob Massie, activist
• Marc Draisen, state representative from Roslindale

Results

Massachusetts Democratic Lt. Gubernatorial Primary, 1994

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
		Bob Massie		52.66%
		Marc Draisen		47.34%
Total votes				100.00%

General election

File:Mark Roosevelt and Bob Massie in Danvers Square (53316658055).jpg

The Democratic ticket of Roosevelt (right) and Massie (left) campaign in Danvers

Debates

1994 Massachusetts gubernatorial election debates

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Republican	Democratic
Key: Template:Colors Participant  Template:Colors Absent  Template:Colors Not invited  Template:Colors Invited  W  Withdrawn					scope="col" style="background:Template:Party color"|	scope="col" style="background:Template:Party color"|
					Bill Weld	Mark Roosevelt
1	Oct. 18. 1994	Boston Herald WCVB-TV	Natalie Jacobson	C-SPAN	P	P
2	Oct. 26. 1994	The Boston Globe WBZ-TV	Liz Walker Jack Williams	C-SPAN	P	P

Polling

Source	Date	Weld (R)	Roosevelt (D)
Boston Herald	Oct. 2, 1994	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | 60%	29%

Results

Governor Weld defeated Democrat Mark Roosevelt by a 71%–28% margin, the largest gubernatorial margin of victory in modern Massachusetts history. Roosevelt won only six municipalities statewide (Amherst, Cambridge, Leverett, Otis, Shutesbury and Wendell). All six municipalities voted for Weld in 1990, meaning that he won every municipality in the state in a gubernatorial election.

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link

1994 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Mark Roosevelt	611,650	28.27%
		Dean Cook	14,698	0.68%
	LaRouche Was Right	Jeffrey W. Rebello	3,907	0.18%
Total votes			2,163,645	100.00%

Results by county

1994 United States gubernatorial election in Massachusetts (by county)
County	Weld - R %	Weld - R #	Roosevelt - D %	Roosevelt - D #	Others %	Others #	Total #
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Barnstable	73.2%	68,719	24.0%	22,576	2.8%	2,604	93,899
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Berkshire	60.9%	30,430	35.3%	17,618	3.8%	1,919	49,967
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Bristol	63.8%	105,751	31.2%	51,702	5.1%	8,413	165,866
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Dukes	62.4%	3,748	33.4%	2,007	4.2%	255	6,010
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Essex	72.4%	189,618	24.1%	63,019	3.5%	9,237	261,874
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Franklin	66.6%	18,226	30.0%	8,217	3.4%	927	27,370
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Hampden	72.4%	109,631	23.0%	34,860	4.5%	6,840	151,331
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Hampshire	62.1%	33,965	33.8%	18,449	4.1%	2,239	54,653
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Middlesex	67.8%	376,503	28.7%	159,190	3.6%	19,875	555,568
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Nantucket	71.2%	2,131	26.5%	794	2.3%	70	2,995
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Norfolk	69.4%	187,155	26.9%	72,479	3.8%	10,201	269,835
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Plymouth	73.5%	123,320	23.1%	38,747	3.4%	5,744	167,811
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Suffolk	57.0%	99,615	36.5%	63,716	6.5%	11,352	174,683
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|Worcester	73.7%	184,578	23.3%	58,306	3.0%	7,490	250,374

See also

• 1993–1994 Massachusetts legislature, for the legislature at the time of this election
• 1995–1996 Massachusetts legislature, for the legislature elected concurrently
• 1994 Massachusetts elections, for other elections held concurrently