1974Flipped from DemocraticFinal resultsIncumbent defeated
1974 election for Massachusetts House District 80
Massachusetts House of Representatives · Massachusetts
Robert M. Penta (Ind) won with 57.9% of the vote, defeating Paul J. Cavanaugh (D) by 15.9 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
Robert M. PentaIndependent · winner
57.9%4,399
Paul J. CavanaughDemocrat · incumbent
42.1%3,195
7,594 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1974
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET