The big headline in this year’s election? There aren’t many contested races. At the federal level, the state’s all-Democratic congressional delegation is running unopposed in the primary. Every two years, all 160 House and 40 Senate districts are up for re-election. But as is typical in a state where incumbents rarely face challenges, only a fraction of voters will have the opportunity to cast their vote in a contested primary.
Still, Secretary of State William F. Galvin said his office expected turnout to be about 15 percent — which would be higher than turnout in the last two comparable state primaries in 2016 and 2012. (The year 2020 was an anomaly given the Covid pandemic.)
“This is remarkable considering there are very few contests on the Democratic side,” he said.
By Friday, the state had already exceeded its 2016 voter turnout rate; as of 4 p.m. on August 30, voter turnout was 9.6 percent. At that time, a total of 485,295 votes had been cast, most of them by mail.
Here are some races to watch:
US Senate
Senator Elizabeth Warren has no Democratic opponent as she seeks re-election this year. On the Republican side, three candidates are vying for the nomination. They vary widely in terms of background and experience; two have ties to cryptocurrencies, while only one has said he will support former President Donald Trump in November.
John Deaton, a longtime personal injury attorney and crypto advocate, moved to Massachusetts from Rhode Island just this year. A Marine Corps veteran, he recently won a Republican primary and is considered the frontrunner in the race.
Ian Cain is the only candidate to hold elected office and the first black and openly gay city council president in Quincy’s history. He is the founder of a startup incubator called QUBIC Labs, a project that, he told the Globe in 2022, could build a blockchain ecosystem that would bring jobs and a culture of innovation to his hometown.
Bob Antonellis, an engineer and political newcomer, is the only candidate in the race who has announced he will vote for Trump. Antonellis has alienated some in his party by expressing conspiratorial views about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and railing against certain public artwork on Boston Common.
Board of Governors
The battle for seats on the Governor’s Board of Governors, a little-known but potentially influential body, has become one of the most lively primary contests in the state. In Tuesday’s primary, 14 Democrats are vying for one of the eight seats. Two of the longest-serving members are facing the challenge, and more than half the body could be made up of new faces in November.
The Board of Governors reviews nominations for judicial offices and approves politically motivated pardons, but operates relatively secretly.
Incumbents face challenges
Some state elections feature a phenomenon extremely rare in Massachusetts politics: candidates challenge incumbents and challenge them for their seats.
Cambridge Democratic Rep. Marjorie Decker will face sociology student and union leader Evan MacKay, who is campaigning on a campaign denouncing legislative inefficiency and the lack of transparency on Beacon Hill.
Democrats Francisco Paulino of Methuen and Erika Uyterhoeven of Somerville, who are serving their first terms as House representatives, also face primaries. Paulino will face former Democratic Rep. Marcos Devers of Lawrence (whom Paulino unseated in a 2022 primary), and Uyterhoeven will face Somerville resident Kathleen Hornby, Decker’s former chief of staff.
Other incumbents facing challengers on Tuesday include Democratic state Reps. Bud Williams of Springfield, David Linsky of Natick, Jack Lewis of Framingham, Thomas Stanley of Waltham, Rady Mom of Lowell, Joseph McGonagle of Everett, Paul Donato of Medford, Rita Mendes of Brockton and Russell Holmes and Jay Livingstone of Boston. Republican state Reps. Susan Gifford of Wareham and Paul Frost of Auburn also face challengers on the GOP ballot.
On the part of the Senate Senators Mark Montigny of New Bedford, Adam Gomez of Springfield and Nick Collins of Boston, all Democrats, face challenges in the primaries.
Some races will be decided on Tuesday
In several elections in which neither a Republican nor an independent candidate is running, the outcome will be decided at the ballot box on Tuesday.
Two Democrats, Arielle Reid Faria and Thomas Moakley, are seeking to fill the state House seat representing Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket counties. That seat is being vacated by Rep. Dylan Fernandes, who is running for the Senate. Faria, a housing rights activist from West Tisbury, is being endorsed by U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley. Moakley, a former assistant district attorney from Falmouth, is being endorsed by Fernandes.
Hong Net, a Lynn city councilman, will face Sean Reid, a Lynn school board member and the legislative director for state Sen. Brendan Crighton. The two Democrats are seeking to represent Lynn and Nahant after state Rep. Peter Capano announced he will retire in the fall.
Three current or former Newton City Council members are vying for the seat of retiring state Rep. Ruth Balser. Greg Schwartz, a former Newton City Councilman and Balser’s preferred successor, is running on the basis of his experience as a physician and is committed to “putting a doctor in the House.” His opponents are Bill Humphrey, a Newton City Councilman backed by a number of left-leaning organizations, including the Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts, and Rick Lipof, another City Councilman backed by State Treasurer Deb Goldberg.
State Rep. Bill Driscoll, with the backing of U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, is running for a state Senate seat in the district that represents Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth. He is running against Kathleen Crogan-Camara, a nurse from Randolph, and Erin Bradley, a former member of the Milton Select Board and former political analyst for Senate President Karen Spilka.
In two other races, the race is all but decided. Easthampton City Council President Homar Gómez is the only candidate seeking to replace state Rep. Daniel Carey, who is running for Hampshire County Clerk of Court. Orleans resident Hadley Luddy, who heads the Homeless Prevention Council, is the only candidate seeking to replace retiring state Rep. Sarah Peake.
An exciting race in the Greater Boston area
Suffolk County voters will witness a thrilling primary race for the position of Clerk of the Suffolk County Superior Court, a low-profile position that has attracted prominent supporters.
The Clerk of the Superior Court for Suffolk County is primarily responsible for overseeing an individual judge’s caseload for the court or the caseload of emergency appeals that an individual judge is reviewing and determining whether they should be heard by all the judges of the Superior Court.
The attorney secretary is also responsible for admitting new attorneys to the Massachusetts Bar and handling disciplinary matters. It is an elected office serving a six-year term chosen by the voters of Suffolk County, which includes Boston, Revere, Chelsea, and Winthrop.
Boston City Councilwoman Erin Murphy and longtime public defender Allison Cartwright have found prominent endorsements in the race: Mayor Michelle Wu of Boston, State Senator Lydia Edwards of East Boston and Attorney General Andrea Campbell for Cartwright; and U.S. Representative Stephen Lynch of South Boston and Council Member Ed Flynn behind Murphy.
Globe writer Niki Griswold contributed to this report.
You can reach Samantha J. Gross at [email protected]. Follow her @samantha_grossYou can reach Emma Platoff at [email protected]. Follow her @emmaplatoffAnjali Huynh can be reached at [email protected].
