Incumbent Republican Governor Mitt Romney did not run for re-election and was succeeded by Democrat Deval Patrick.

The Republicans nominated a ticket of incumbent Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey and former State Representative Reed Hillman.

He was opposed in the Democratic primary by John C. Bonifaz, a voting-rights activist who founded the National Voting Rights Institute.

In the general election, Galvin's only challenger was Green-Rainbow nominee Jill Stein, a medical doctor and community activist who ran for governor in 2002.

Republican Ronald K. Davy, a financial analyst and Hull selectman, was nominated but failed to reach signature requirement to qualify for the ballot.

[citation needed] Republican candidate Earle Stroll, a 52-year-old small-business consultant from Bolton,[13] also failed to reach signature requirement to qualify for the ballot.