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Official Tally: Baker-Coakley Was Closest Governor's Race In 50 Years

Republican Charlie Baker, left, and Democrat Martha Coakley (AP's Stephan Savoia, WBUR's Jesse Costa)
Republican Charlie Baker, left, and Democrat Martha Coakley (AP's Stephan Savoia, WBUR's Jesse Costa)

Gov.-elect Charlie Baker's Nov. 4 victory over Martha Coakley was the closest margin in 50 years, Secretary of State William Galvin's office said in a statement Thursday.

The Republican beat the Democrat by just 40,165 votes.

State House News Service reports:

A News Service trip through the statistical archives showed that Winchester Republican John Volpe, running as a former governor during the 1964 campaign, defeated Lt. Gov. Francis Bellotti of Quincy by 23,046 votes to regain the governorship.

Per the official 2014 turnout, 2,186,789 voters cast ballots, out of 4,301,118 registered to vote in the election. That's a turnout of 51 percent.

The statement added:

This election was only the second non-presidential election since 1990 in which the turnout dipped below 2.2 million.

This article was originally published on November 20, 2014.

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