1994 State Election

The major race of 1994 was for the US Senate seat held by Ted Kennedy. Two Republicans sought to challenge him, with Mitt Romney defeating John Lakian to become the nominee, 188,820 to 40,898. In the general election, Kennedy defeated Romney, 1,266,011 to 894,005. Kennedy also won Lowell, 14,166 to 8079.

The office of governor was also on the ballot, with the popular incumbent William Weld running for reelection. The Democrats nominated Mark Roosevelt for the office after a primary in which he received 215,061 to George Bachrach’s 120,567 and Michael Barrett’s 111,199. In Lowell, Roosevelt received 4085 votes to Barrett’s 2576 and Bachrach’s 1711. In the general election, Weld received 1,533,390 to Roosevelt’s 611,650 (In Lowell, 15,897 to 6454).

For the office of Lieutenant Governor, incumbent Paul Cellucci was the Republican nominee. In the Democratic Primary, Robert Massie of Somerville defeated Marc Draisen of Boston, 193,508 to 172,896. For Attorney General, Scott Harshbarger had no Democratic opponent while Janis Berry defeated Guy Carbone in the Republican Primary, 138,875 to 56,288. In the general election, Harshbarger defeated Berry, 1,472,621 to 616,509 (15,497 to 6594 in Lowell). In the Democratic Primary for Secretary of State, Bill Galvin defeated Augusto Grace, 262,018 to 148,785 (5888 to 2556 in Lowell) while in the Republican Primary, Arthur Chase defeated Peter Forman, 97,079 to 96,362 (955 to 634 in Lowell). Galvin defeated Chase in the general election.

For the office of Treasurer, Republican incumbent Joe Malone defeated Democrat Shannon O’Brien, 1,319,922 to 669,576 (13,690 to 7153 in Lowell). For State Auditor, Democratic incumbent Joe DeNucci defeated Republican Forrester Clark, 1,432,301 to 503,064.

With Lowell’s Robert Kennedy not seeking reelection to the Governor’s Council (since he was appointed to be director of the Lowell Regional Transit Authority), four Democrats sought the office. Cynthia Creem of Newton won with 25,968 to Joe Downes of Lowell with 13,526, Jackie Morrissey of Newton with 11,276 and Robert Kahn of Brookline with 5334. Downes did better in Lowell, winning the city with 7393 votes to Creem’s 1092, Morrissey’s 630 and Kahn’s 269. In the general election, Creem defeated William Monnie of Stow, 141,465 to 91,798.

In the newly reconfigured First Senate District, now consisting of Dunstable, Groton, Lowell, Pepperell, Tyngsborough and Westford, incumbent Dan Leahy defeated Michael Conway, 22,252 to 17,842. In the 19th Middlesex Representative District, incumbent Steve Panagiotakos was unopposed while in the 18th District, incumbent Ed LeLacheur beat Leo “Buckles” Nolan in the Democratic Primary, 2776 to 841 and then went on to defeat Republican Roy Nagle in the general election, 6800 to 3274.

An intense contest arose in the 17th Middlesex District to replace John Cox who chose not to seek reelection. With no Republican in the race, Tom Golden, who won the six-candidate Democratic Primary, became the newest state representative from Lowell. Golden received 1562 votes, to Bernie Lemoine’s 1432, Regina Faticanti’s 540, Gail Bartlett’s 539, Robert Finn’s 181 and John Zagarella’s 104.

For the office of Middlesex District Attorney, incumbent Tom Reilly won reelection without opposition. Long-time incumbent Clerk of Courts Edward Sullivan withstood a primary challenge from Lowell school committee member James Kennedy, 72,138 to 34,684. There was no Republican challenger. For the office of County Commissioner, incumbent Frank Flaherty of Arlington won the Democratic Primary with 46,558 votes to Gerry Flynn’s 25,105 (of Chelmsford); John MacGillvray’s 17,368 (of Newton) and Douglas MacDonald’s 12,124. With no Republican opponent, Flaherty won the general election without opposition.

With the decision of incumbent Edward Early to not seek reelection to the office of Northern Middlesex Registry of Deeds, Richard P Howe Jr won a nine-candidate Democratic Primary, receiving 4630 votes to Karin Theodoros’s 4587, Fred Simon’s 4216, Dennis McHugh’s 3252, Patty Kirwin Keilty’s 3203, Ed Kennedy’s 2541, Buddy Flynn’s 1955, Dennis Scannell’s 1605 and Dave Shaughnessy’s 876. Howe won the general election, receiving 46,547 votes to Republican John Noonan’s 29,080 and unenrolled Patrick O’Connor’s 9595.