Raymond Shamie (June 7, 1921 – October 16, 1999) was an American politician and businessman from

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. Shamie served as the chair of the

Massachusetts Republican Party The Massachusetts Republican Party (MassGOP) is the Massachusetts branch of the U.S. Republican Party. Originally, the party was formed in 1854. Soon after its founding, the party quickly became the dominant party in the state with Massachuse ...

and was twice the Republican nominee for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

Early life and education

Shamie was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. His father died in a traffic accident while Shamie was in high school, and in 1937, during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, Shamie got a job as a busboy a Horn & Hardart automat.

Career

Shamie was twice a Massachusetts Republican nominee for the

, and served as the chairman of the

from 1987 to 1991. Ray Shamie was the inventor of the "Metal Bellows", a flexible shaft coupling that is used in aerospace and many other fields, for which he held the patent. In 1982, Shamie, a millionaire businessman and metalwork entrepreneur (primarily from the invention of Metal Bellows), challenged longtime incumbent Senator

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts who served as a member of the United States Senate from 1962 to his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic Party and ...

. In a Democratic-leaning election cycle, Shamie lost in a landslide, receiving 38 percent of the vote against Kennedy's 61 percent. In 1984, he announced that he would challenge Senator

Paul Tsongas Paul Efthemios Tsongas ( ; February 14, 1941 – January 18, 1997) was an American politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1979 until 1985 and in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 until 1 ...

for re-election; however, Tsongas, who had been diagnosed with lymphoma, did not run for re-election. Shamie won the Republican primary for the seat, beating former U.S. Attorney General

Elliot Richardson Elliot Lee Richardson (July 20, 1920December 31, 1999) was an American lawyer and Republican politician. As a member of the cabinets of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford between 1970 and 1977, Richardson is one of two men in United States history ...

. In the general election, he faced off against Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

. Shamie lost the Senate race to Kerry, 55–45. After his second bid for the Senate, he became the chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party. He served in that capacity until 1991. He is credited with helping Republican William Weld win the governorship in 1990.

Death

Shamie died in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

on October 16, 1999, at the age of 78.

References

1921 births 1999 deaths Massachusetts Republican Party chairs Candidates in the 1982 United States elections Candidates in the 1984 United States elections {{Massachusetts-politician-stub