NATIONAL ELECTION RETURNS : EDITION-TIME COMPILATIONS : State-by-State Election Reports of Key Races and Issues : Massachusetts
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BOSTON — Gov. Michael S. Dukakis was reelected by a landslide, defeating Republican George Kariotis 69% to 31%. Dukakis will serve his third term, including one stint in the 1970s.
Joseph P. Kennedy II became the first of the “young” Kennedys to enter Congress, winning the congressional seat that launched the political career of his uncle, President John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy, the 34-year-old son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy of New York, had 73% of the vote in his race against Republican businessman Clark Abt in the 8th District. The seat has been held for the last 34 years by retiring House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill, who succeeded John Kennedy.
In other House races, Rep. Silvio O. Conte was the only Republican winner as seven incumbent Democrats were reelected without opposition and two others won contested races.
Voters rejected by about a 2-1 ratio a proposal to use state funds to aid private schools. And voters in and around the predominantly black Roxbury part of Boston rejected by about a 3-1 ratio a non-binding referendum on forming a separate city called Mandela for jailed South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela.
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