1938 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

The 1938 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1938.

Former governor James Michael Curley defeated incumbent governor Charles F. Hurley in the Democratic primary, but Curley was defeated by former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Leverett Saltonstall in the general election.

Saltonstall's victory returned control of Beacon Hill to the Republicans after an unprecedented eight years of Democratic Governors.

Candidates

 * James Michael Curley, former governor, Mayor of Boston, and U.S. Representative
 * Charles F. Hurley, incumbent governor
 * Francis E. Kelly, incumbent lieutenant governor
 * Richard M. Russell, former United States Representative

Candidates

 * James Henry Brennan, former state senator and member of the Executive Council
 * Edward T. Collins, Member of the Executive Council
 * Alexander F. Sullivan, former state representative
 * Joseph C. White, state senator
 * William P. Yoerg, Mayor of Holyoke

Candidates

 * Frederick Butler, chairman of the Essex County Board of Commissioners and former state senator
 * William McMasters, publicity agent for Charles Ponzi and candidate for governor in 1936
 * Leverett Saltonstall, former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and nominee for Lt. Governor in 1936
 * Richard Whitcomb, director of the Boston Survey Commission

Results
Following his loss in the Republican primary, McMasters declared his campaign as an independent on the Townsend Recovery Act line.

Candidates

 * Dewey G. Archambault, Mayor of Lowell
 * Horace T. Cahill, Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
 * J. Watson Flett, Chairman of the Belmont Board of Selectmen
 * Charles P. Howard, Massachusetts State Commissioner of Administration and Finance
 * Kenneth D. Johnson, Judge for the Quincy District Court
 * Robert Gardiner Wilson Jr., Member of the Boston City Council

Candidates

 * Henning A. Blomen, perennial candidate (Socialist Labor)
 * Roland S. Bruneau of Cambridge (independent)
 * Jeffrey Campbell, black Universalist Unitarian minister (Socialist)
 * James Michael Curley, former governor, Mayor of Boston, and U.S. Representative (Democratic)
 * William A. Davenport, former state representative (Independent Tax Reform)
 * Otis Archer Hood, candidate for governor in 1936 (Communist)
 * Charles L. Manser of Boston (Sound, Sensible Government)
 * William McMasters, publicity agent and whistleblower in the Charles Ponzi case (Townsend Recovery Act)
 * Leverett Saltonstall, former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and nominee for Lt. Governor in 1936 (Republican)
 * George L. Thompson, former Chairman of the New Hampshire Prohibition Party (Prohibition)