1962 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

{{Short description|none}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}

{{Infobox election

| election_name = 1962 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

| country = Massachusetts

| flag_year = 1908

| type = presidential

| ongoing = no

| previous_election = 1960 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

| previous_year = 1960

| next_election = 1964 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

| next_year = 1964

| election_date = November 6, 1962

| image_size = 150x150px

| image1 = File:Endicott Peabody (MA).png

| nominee1 = Endicott Peabody

| party1 = Democratic Party (United States)

| popular_vote1 = 1,052,322

| percentage1 = 49.92%

| image2 = File:John Volpe (1970).jpg

| nominee2 = John Volpe

| party2 = Republican Party (United States)

| popular_vote2 = 1,047,891

| percentage2 = 49.71%

| map_image = {{switcher

|300px

|County results

|File:1962 Massachusetts Gubernatorial Election by Municipality.svg

|Municipality results

|default=1

}}

| map_size = 250px

| map_caption = Peabody:

{{legend0|#a5b0ff|40–50%}} {{legend0|#7996e2|50–60%}} {{legend0|#6674de|60–70%}} {{legend0|#584cde|70–80%}}
Volpe: {{legend0|#ffb2b2|40–50%}} {{legend0|#e27f7f|50–60%}} {{legend0|#d75d5d|60–70%}} {{legend0|#d72f30|70–80%}} {{legend0|#C21B18|80–90%}}

| title = Governor

| before_election = John Volpe

| before_party = Republican Party (United States)

| after_election = Endicott Peabody

| after_party = Democratic Party (United States)

}}

{{ElectionsMA}}

The 1962 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1962. Former Executive Councilor Endicott Peabody defeated incumbent Governor John A. Volpe in the general election.{{Cite book |url=https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/handle/2452/43454 |title=Election statistics : The Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1962) |publisher=Office of Secretary of the Commonwealth |year=1962 |access-date=2022-06-23}}

The election is notable as a demonstration of the political individualism of Italian Americans and historic lack of ethnic bloc voting among Americans of Italian descent, instead preferring to vote based on individual candidates and issues. John Volpe, just the second Massachusetts governor of Italian ancestry, lost his 1962 re-election campaign by a razor-thin 0.21%—a final margin that could be more than sufficiently explained by Volpe polling only 51% among the state's significant population of Italian Americans, roughly half of whom voted for the old-line Anglo-Saxon Protestant Endicott Peabody over a fellow ethnic.{{cite book |last=Sowell|first=Thomas|author-link=Thomas Sowell|date=1981|title=Ethnic America: A History|location=New York|publisher=Basic Books|page=128|isbn=0465020755}}