Lowell Lists: Constitutional Officers

Another installment of our Lowell Lists series.

Constitutional Officers

Here is a list of those who have held the offices created by the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Treasurer and Auditor) from 1970 to the present.

Governor

  • Francis W. Sargent Jr. [fn 1] – 1969 to 1975
  • Michael S. Dukakis – 1975 to 1979
  • Edward J. King – 1979 to 1983
  • Michael S. Dukakis – 1983 to 1991
  • William Weld [fn 2] – 1991 to 1997
  • Paul Cellucci [fn 3] – 1997 to 2001
  • Jane Swift – 2001 to 2003
  • Mitt Romney – 2003 to 2007
  • Deval Patrick – 2007 to 2015
  • Charlie Baker – 2015 to present

fn 1: Lt. Governor Francis Sargent became Governor on January 22, 1969 when John Volpe resigned to be U.S. Secretary of Transportation. Sargent was elected to a full term as Governor in 1971.

fn 2: Governor Weld resigned on July 29, 1997, after being nominated by President Clinton to serve as Ambassador to Mexico, however, Weld was never confirmed and did not serve in that post.

fn 3: Lt. Gov. Paul Cellucci became Governor in 1997 when William Weld resigned. Cellucci was elected Governor in 1998 but resigned on April 10, 2001 when appointed Ambassador to Canada by President George W. Bush. Lt. Gov. Jane Swift then became Governor. 

Lieutenant Governor

  • Francis W. Sargent [fn 4] – 1967 to 1969
  • Donald R. Dwight – 1971 to 1975
  • Thomas P. O’Neill Jr – 1975 to 1983
  • John F. Kerry [fn 5] – 1983 to 1985
  • Evelyn Murphy – 1987 to 1991
  • Paul Cellucci [fn 6] – 1991 to 1997
  • Jane Swift [fn 7] – 1999 to 2001
  • Kerry Healey – 2003 – 2007
  • Timothy P. Murray [fn 8] – 2007 to 2013
  • Karyn Polito – 2015 to present

fn 4: Lt. Gov. Sargent became Governor in 1969 (see fn 1 above) so there was no Lt. Gov. until Donald Dwight took office in 1971.

fn 5: Kerry resigned as Lt. Gov. in January 1985 when he took office as a U.S. Senator. There was no Lt. Gov. from then until 1987 when Evelyn Murphy took office.

fn 6: Lt. Gov. Cellucci became Governor in 1997 (see fn 3 above) so there was no Lt. Gov. until Jane Swift took office in 1999.

fn 7: Lt. Gov. Swift became Governor in 2001 (see fn 3 above) so there was no Lt. Gov. until Kerry Healey took office in 2003

fn 8: Lt. Gov. Murray resigned in 2013 to become head of the Worcester Chamber of Commerce so there was no Lt. Gov. until Karyn Polito took office in 2015. 

Attorney General

  • Robert H Quinn – 1969 to 1975
  • Francis X. Bellotti – 1975 to 1987
  • James M. Shannon – 1987 to 1991
  • Scott Harshbarger – 1991 to 1999
  • Thomas Reilly – 1999 to 2007
  • Martha Coakley – 2007 to 2015
  • Maura Healey – 2015 – present

Secretary of the Commonwealth

  • John F. X. Davoren – 1967 to 1974
  • Paul H. Guzzi – 1975 to 1979
  • Michael J. Connolly – 1979 to 1994
  • William F. Galvin – 1995 to present

Treasurer

  • Robert Q. Crane – 1964 to 1991
  • Joseph Malone – 1991 to 1999
  • Shannon O’Brien – 1999  to 2003
  • Timothy Cahill – 2003 to 2011
  • Steven Grossman – 2011 to 2015
  • Deborah B. Goldberg – 2015 to present

Auditor

  • Thaddeus Buczko – 1964 to 1981
  • John J. Finnegan – 1981 to 1987
  • Joseph DeNucci – 1987 to 2011
  • Suzanne M. Bump – 2011 to present