Kennedy, Sargent Take Easy Victories; Buckley Wins Middlesex Sheriff Race

Massachusetts voters chose personalities over parties yesterday, re-electing Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy and Republican Governor Francis W. Sargent by surprisingly lop-sided margins.

Sargent rode the crest of a 15,000 vote margin in metropolitan Boston to even higher pluralities in Boston suburbs and outstate towns, beating Boston Mayor Kevin White by nearly 300,000 votes.

Kennedy Romps

Kennedy, needing at least 60 per cent of the vote and cautiously predicting 65, romped over former Republican state chairman Josiah Spaulding with 67 per cent of the total vote, but received moderate to heavy "blanking" -leaving both choices open-in many Democratic areas.

Questions, Not Answers

Convincing as both individual victories were, they are expected to raise more questions than answers about the state of Massachusetts polities next year and the chance of its favorite politician-Edward Kennedy-in the '72 presidential elections.

Sargent carried his Lieutenant Governor nominee, Donald Dwight, into office on the new no-split ballot instituted this year for the two top spots. Democratic incumbents, however, had little trouble maintaining their traditional hold on the lower state offices of Attorney General, Secretary of State, Treasurer, and State Auditor.

White's loss, however, following a strong primary victory over state senate leader Maurice Donahue, has left the Democratic Party leaderless in a state that is registered 2-1 Democratic. Despite the Governor's strong showing, his gubernatorial victory did little to offset the heavily Democratic Massachusetts legislature.

Chappaquiddick

Kennedy aides hoped before the election that a 60 per cent or better victory margin would put to rest the Chappaquiddick incident and prove the Senator's Massachusetts image remains untarnished. But the number of blankings will be the subject of great speculation in the next few weeks.

In general, the Massachusetts elections were conducted far from the Nixon-Agnew dominated national spotlight. Both White and Sargent ran what was more than one time termed long and lackluster campaigns, emphasizing state and local issues.

Early in the summer, the Republican national committee refused to name Massachusetts as one of its 16 target districts-perhaps because of Senatorial candidate Spaulding's refusal to too the Nixon line on the war-and consequently no Republican money was sent into Boston for the Spaulding election campaign. Both Nixon and Agnew were asked not to campaign in the state.