1982Final results
1982 election for Massachusetts Governor
Governor · Massachusetts
Michael S. Dukakis (D) won with 61.9% of the vote, defeating John W. Sears (R) by 23.8 points.
Michael S. DukakisDemocrat · winner
61.9%1,219,109
John W. SearsRepublican
38.1%749,679
1,968,788 votes
Source: Algara, Carlos; Amlani, Sharif (Harvard Dataverse)Updated Oct 5, 2026, 12:23 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1982
Races before and after
Source: Algara, Carlos; Amlani, Sharif (Harvard Dataverse)Updated Oct 5, 2026, 12:23 AM ET