Editing Michael Dukakis (section)

=== First term ===
{{See also|1977–1978 Massachusetts legislature}}
Dukakis was elected governor in 1974, defeating the incumbent Republican [[Francis Sargent]] during a period of fiscal crisis. Dukakis won in part by promising to be a "reformer" and pledging a "lead pipe guarantee" of no new taxes to balance the state budget. He would later reverse his position after taking office. He also pledged to dismantle the powerful [[Department of Conservation and Recreation (Massachusetts)|Metropolitan District Commission]] (MDC), a bureaucratic enclave that served as home to hundreds of political patronage employees. The MDC managed state parks, reservoirs, and waterways, as well as the highways and roads abutting those waterways. In addition to its own police force, the MDC had its own maritime patrol force, and an enormous budget from the state, for which it provided minimal accounting. Dukakis's efforts to dismantle the MDC failed in the legislature, where the MDC had many powerful supporters. As a result, the MDC would withhold its critical backing of Dukakis in the 1978 gubernatorial primary.

Governor Dukakis hosted President [[Gerald Ford]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Remarks at the Old North Bridge, Concord, Massachusetts. {{!}} The American Presidency Project|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-old-north-bridge-concord-massachusetts|access-date=October 13, 2021|website=www.presidency.ucsb.edu|archive-date=October 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029173747/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-old-north-bridge-concord-massachusetts|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Britain's Queen Elizabeth II]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/queen-elizabeth-ii-rides-with-gov-michael-dukakis-through-news-photo/631621874|title=Queen Elizabeth II rides with Gov. Michael Dukakis through the North End during her visit to Boston, July 11, 1976|website=Getty Images|date=January 13, 2017 |language=en-us|access-date=May 24, 2019|archive-date=May 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524191248/https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/queen-elizabeth-ii-rides-with-gov-michael-dukakis-through-news-photo/631621874|url-status=live}}</ref> during their visits to Boston in 1976 to commemorate the [[United States Bicentennial|bicentennial of the United States]]. He gained some notice as the only politician in the state government who went to work during the [[Northeastern United States blizzard of 1978|Blizzard of 1978]], during which he went to local TV studios in a sweater to announce emergency bulletins.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/03/have_we_learned_anything/?page=full | title = Have we learned anything? | author = Peter J. Howe | newspaper = The Boston Globe | date = February 3, 2008 | access-date = August 19, 2014 | archive-date = August 20, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140820083040/http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/03/have_we_learned_anything/?page=full | url-status = live }}</ref> Dukakis is also remembered for his 1977 [[exoneration]] of [[Sacco and Vanzetti]], two Italian anarchists whose trial sparked protests around the world. During his first term in office, Dukakis [[Commutation of sentence|commuted the sentences]] of 21 first-degree murderers and 23 second-degree murderers.

His first term performance proved to be insufficient to offset a backlash against the state's high sales and property tax rates, which turned out to be the predominant issue in the [[1978 Massachusetts gubernatorial election|1978 gubernatorial campaign]]. Dukakis, despite being the incumbent Democratic governor, was refused renomination by his own party. The [[Massachusetts Democratic Party|state's Democratic Party]] chose to support Director of the [[Massachusetts Port Authority]] [[Edward J. King]] in the [[Partisan primary|primary]], partly because King rode the wave against high property taxes, but more significantly because state Democratic Party leaders lost confidence in Dukakis's ability to govern effectively. King also enjoyed the support of the power brokers at the MDC, who were unhappy with Dukakis's attempts to dismantle their powerful bureaucracy. King also had support from state police and public employee unions. Dukakis suffered a scathing defeat in the primary, a disappointment that his wife Kitty called "a public death".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-17-mn-36772-story.html|title=An Enigma: For Dukakis, Key Is Voter Perception|date=January 17, 1988|first=Bob|last=Drogin|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=January 18, 2023|archive-date=January 18, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118114259/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-17-mn-36772-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>