1930 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

The 1930 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1930.

Incumbent Republican governor Frank G. Allen was defeated by Democrat Joseph B. Ely. This election marked the beginning of a new era for the Massachusetts Democratic Party, starting a string of eight consecutive years of Democratic governors, a streak later surpassed from 1974 until 1986.

Candidates

 * Frank G. Allen, incumbent governor
 * John D. Devir, mayor of Malden

Candidates

 * John J. Cummings, former State Senator and nominee for lieutenant governor in 1924
 * Joseph B. Ely, candidate for governor in 1922
 * John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, former United States Representative, Mayor of Boston, and nominee for governor in 1922

Campaign
The Democratic primary featured a rematch of the 1922 primary between Joseph Ely and John Fitzgerald.This time, Ely won with 54.7% of the vote.

Fitzgerald was forced to withdraw late in the race due to illness, though his name remained on the ballot, and James Michael Curley encouraged a vote for Fitzgerald against the "anti-Irish" Ely. Ely had previously lost the nomination for lieutenant governor in 1926 to another Irish candidate who withdrew from the race, Harry Dooley.