Royall H. Switzler (born September 27, 1938 in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

) is an American politician who served in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

from 1973 to 1975 and again from 1977 to 1986. He was a candidate for

Governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces. Massachusetts ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

until he dropped out after inaccuracies about his military record were revealed.

Massachusetts House of Representatives

A real estate broker and a Wellesley, Massachusetts Town Meeting Member, Switzler was first elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1972. In 1974, redistricting forced Switzler to face fellow Republican representative Bruce H. Zeiser in the newly created 15th Norfolk District. Zeiser defeated Switzler 1,939 votes to 1,803. Zeiser did not run for re-election in 1976 and Switzler ran to succeed him. He defeated Edwina Giles in the Republican primary and David J. Daly in the general election. During his tenure as State Representative, Switzler was described as an "outspoken" and "vociferous" critic of the House leadership and as "an unsufferable icwindbag" who continuously used

dilatory motions and tactics In parliamentary procedure, a motion is a formal proposal by a member of a deliberative assembly that the assembly take certain action. Such motions, and the form they take are specified by the deliberate assembly and/or a pre-agreed volume detaili ...

to delay the legislative process. Switzler co-wrote the property tax law known as Proposition 2½, which was passed by ballot initiative in 1980. In 1985 he sponsored a successful bill that prevented the Department of Social Services from placing foster children with homosexual couples.

1986 gubernatorial election

At the 1986 Massachusetts Republican Convention, Switzler was drafted by Republicans who opposed the nomination of Greg Hyatt after an unsuccessful attempt to get former Congressman Paul W. Cronin to enter the race. After Switzler's strong showing on the first ballot (891 votes for Hyatt, 775 votes for Switzler, 258 votes for

Guy Carbone Guy A. Carbone is an American attorney and Perennial candidate in Massachusetts who was Metropolitan District Commissioner from 1979–1980. Electoral history Other races *Massachusetts gubernatori ...

), some of Hyatt's major supporters, including

Ray Shamie Raymond Shamie (June 7, 1921 – October 16, 1999) was an American politician and businessman from Massachusetts. Shamie served as the chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party and was twice the Republican nominee for the United States Senat ...

and Papa Gino's founder Michael Valerio, announced that they would not oppose Switzler's nomination. On the second ballot, Switzler won the nomination with 975 votes to Hyatt's 876 and Carbone's 60. After winning the nomination, Switzler resigned his House seat to focus on his campaign full-time. In June, Switzler dropped out of the race after inaccuracies about his military record were revealed. He had falsely claimed to be a member of the

United States Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service Berets of the United States Army, headgear, are a special operations special operations force, force of the United States Ar ...

and stated that he had fought in Vietnam when he had only visited Vietnam on leave from noncombat duty in Korea.

Later life

From 1991 to 2000, Switzler was a member of the Wellesley Board of Selectmen. In 2010, Switzler ran as a write-in candidate for his old House seat. He gained enough signatures to win the Republican nomination, but lost in the general election to incumbent Alice Peisch.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Switzler, Royall H. 1938 births Republican Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives People from Wellesley, Massachusetts Northeastern University alumni Living people