Democrats first gain control of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Rep. Thomas “Tip” O’Neill of Cambridge is subsequently elected the first Democratic Speaker of the Massachusetts House in 140 years. In the Massachusetts Senate, Democrats and Republicans win an equal number of seats, resulting in Charles Dolan Jr. of Boston serving for one year as the first Democratic Senate President and Republican Harris Richardson serving the next year. Democrats gain control of the House for good after the election of 1954.