1974 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election

1974 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election

November 5, 1974 (1974-11-05)

Nominee Milton Shapp Drew Lewis Party Democratic Republican Running mate Ernie Kline Ken Lee Popular vote 1,878,252 1,578,917 Percentage 53.7% 45.1%

County results Shapp:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Lewis:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

Governor before election Milton Shapp Democratic Elected Governor Milton Shapp Democratic

The 1974 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 5. Incumbent Democratic Governor Milton Shapp defeated Republican Drew Lewis. Under the state's 1968 constitution, Shapp was the first governor who was eligible to run for consecutive terms.

Primary elections

Candidates

• Harvey Johnston
• Martin P. Mullen, State Representative from Philadelphia
• Milton Shapp, incumbent Governor

Incumbent Governor Shapp easily dispelled a spirited challenge from Martin Mullen, a state representative from Philadelphia who was well known as a firebrand conservative opponent of abortion and pornography.

1974 Democratic gubernatorial primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Milton Shapp (incumbent)	729,201	70.41%
	Democratic	Martin Mullen	199,613	19.27%
	Democratic	Harvey Johnston	106,474	10.28%
Total votes			1,035,288	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

• Alvin Jacobson
• Drew Lewis, staffing executive and Richard Schweiker campaign manager
• Leonard Strunk

With a short Republican bench, wealthy staffing executive Drew Lewis was the only serious contender in the race.

Results

1974 Republican gubernatorial primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Drew Lewis	534,637	76.67%
	Republican	Alvin Jacobson	97,072	13.91%
	Republican	Leonard Strunk	63,868	9.15%
Total votes			695,577	100.00%

General election

Candidates

• Stephen Depue (Constitutional)
  • Running mate: Ellis Werft
• Drew Lewis, staffing executive (Republican)
  • Running mate: Ken Lee, Speaker of the State House of Representatives
• Roberta Scherr (Socialist Workers)
  • Running mate: Fred Stanton
• Milton Shapp, incumbent Governor (Democratic)
  • Running mate: Ernie Kline, incumbent Lieutenant Governor

Campaign

Shapp's popularity had waned somewhat since his comfortable victory in 1970; although he could claim to have saved the state from bankruptcy, he did so at the expense of large tax increases. Furthermore, Shapp, an unabashed liberal, had difficulty rekindling support from the state's rural, socially conservative regions. However, Shapp and Democrats as a whole received a significant boost from the Watergate scandal; with President Richard Nixon's popularity in a tailspin, many of the top tier Republicans declined to run. Instead, the party turned to the wealthy businessman Lewis, who was able to project an "outsider" image. Lewis focused on local issues and greatly undercut Shapp in rural areas; despite lagging at the polls in traditional Democratic strongholds such as Pittsburgh and Scranton, Shapp preserved a moderate victory by winning the combined vote of suburban Philadelphia, an unexpected accomplishment for a Democrat at the time.

Results

Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, 1974
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Milton Shapp (Incumbent)	Ernie Kline (Incumbent)	1,878,252	53.66%
	Republican	Drew Lewis	Ken Lee	1,578,917	45.11%
	Constitutional	Stephen Depue	Ellis Werft	33,691	0.96%
	Socialist Workers	Roberta Scherr[a]	Fred Stanton	8,980	0.26%
	Write-ins	Write-in		374	0.01%
Totals				3,500,214	100.00%
Voter turnout (Voting age population)					63.31%

Notes

a. ^{^} Scherr, at the time, was only 21 years old and, therefore, ineligible to be governor.

Sources

• Roche, Kathleen M, ed. (1975). The Pennsylvania Manual. Vol. 102. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Department of General Services.