1990 was a big year in state politics. The voters elected a new Governor and Lt Governor, Treasurer and Attorney General. The following post has been added to our “Elections” section (see link at upper right) for future reference:

In 1990, John Kerry was elected to his second term in the US Senate, receiving 1,3321,712 votes to 992,917 of Republican Jim Rappaport (who had defeated Daniel Daly in the Republican primary). In Lowell, Kerry defeated Rappaport, 15,608 to 12,188. In the Fifth District, Democratic incumbent Chet Atkins defeated John MacGovern, 110,232 to 101,017. Atkins took Lowell by only two votes, 13,742 to 13,740.

With Mike Dukakis leaving office after his unsuccessful run for President in 1988, the governor’s race in 1990 was wide open. The Democratic contenders were John Silber, Frank Bellotti and Evelyn Murphy. Silber defeated Bellottii, 562,222 to 459,128 with Murphy getting only 20,054 votes. In Lowell, the BU President swamped Attorney General Bellotti, 8545 to 4663. On the Republican side, Bill Weld defeated Steven Pierce, 270,455 to 176,184. In Lowell, it was weld 2241, Pierce 1706. In the general election, Weld defeated Silber, 1,175,817 to 1,099,878. Silber prevailed in Lowell, 15,100 to 12,142.

In the Democratic race for Lieutenant Governor, Marjorie Clapprood received 498,241 to Nick Paleologos’ 175,558 and William Golden’s 283,719. In Lowell, it was Clapprood 5147, Paleologos 3967 and Golden 3403. On the Republican side, Paul Cellucci defeated Peter Torkildsen, 241,354 to 164,732. Cellucci won Lowell easily, 2209 to 1383.

With Bellotti seeking the governorship, the office of Attorney General had no incumbent. On the Democratic side, Middlesex DA Scott Harshbarger defeated former 5th District Congressman Jim Shannon, 533,481 to 462,296. In Lowell, Harshbarger won, 7246 to 6266. On the Repulbican side, William Sawyer of Acton defeated Guy Carbone of Belmont, 199,567 to 178,669. In Lowell, it was Sawyer 2099 to Carbone 1435. In the general election, Harshbarger won, 1,442,359 to 808,398. Harshbarger took Lowell, 18,536 to 9001.

For Secretary of State, incumbent Michael Connolly defeated Republican Paul McCarthy, 1,011,303 to 844,085. For Auditor, Joe DeNucci defeated Republican Douglas Murray, 1,187,241 to 801,116.

Longtime Treasurer Bob Crane did not seek reelection. On the Demcoratic side, Bill Galvin received 489,512 votes to George Keverian’s 287,626 and Dick Krauss’ 182,715. Galvin also won Lowell, 7185 to Keverian’s 3623 and Krauss’ 1927. On the Republican side, Joe Malone won the nomination without opposition. In the general election, Malone defeated Galvin, 1,298,521 to 825,808. Malone won Lowell, 14,616 to 11,115.

For Governor’s Councillor, Democratic incumbent Bob Kennedy of Lowell overcame a primary challenge from Edward Flood of Brookline, 64,897 to 38,349 then Kennedy defeated Republican Thomas Healy, 136,223 to 128,088.

In the First Middlesex Senate District, Democratic incumbent Paul Sheehy lost to Republican challenger Nancy Achin Sullivan, 27,785 to 23,208. In the Seventeenth Middlesex House District, John Cox won a primary election challenge over Keith Willette of Dracut, 4853 to 2656 and then defeated Republican Sheila Richardson, 8145 to 7210. In the Eighteenth District, incumbent Ed LeLacheur defeated Vincent McLaughlin, 6054 to 4145. In the Nineteenth District, incumbent Susan Rourke defeated Republican Mary Burns, 5999 to 5010.

With Scott Harshbarger running for Attorney General, the Middlesex District Attorney’s office was an open seat. On the Democratic side, Harshbarger’s First Assistant, Tom Reilly, defeated State Senator Joe Mackey of Sommerville, 109,835 to 79,090 and George Spartichino of Cambridge finished third with 58,121 votes. There was no Republican candidate, so Reilly was unopposed in the general election. In the Middlesex Register of Probate election, Tom Larkin, a County Commissioner who had been named to fill the unexpired term of Paul Cavanaugh (who became a judge) was challenged in the Democratic primary by Joe Bradley of Framingham. Larkin won the primary, 121,825 to 87,877 but lost the general election to Republican Donna Lambert of Natick, 274,347 to 226,188. In the Democratic primary for County Treasurer, Jim Fahey of Watertown (97,008) defeated Kevin Palmer of Sommerville (54,924) and Warren McManus of Cambridge (46,989). Fahey defeated Republican Walter Fish of Natick in the general election, 249,896 to 244,794. Five Democrats sought the nomination for the one County Commissioner seat on the ballot. Frank Flaherty of Arlington (56,245) prevailed over Barbara Collins of Everett (54,755), Bill Schmidt of Cambridge (48,271), William Eckland of Waltham (26,922) and William McFarland of Cambridge (24,492). With no Republican nominee, Flaherty was unopposed in the general election.