Massachusetts Primary Results Are In

With most of Massachusetts being a solidly blue state, many of the elections are a foregone conclusion, which makes the primary elections more significant. And despite Massachusetts’ blue leanings, the state’s current governor is a Republican, and 2012 GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney preceded him, so Republicans can win elections in Massachusetts.

Speaking of elections for governor, Attorney General Maura Healey secured the Democratic nomination for the top office in the state. She was running unopposed, though Sonia Chang-Diaz was still on the ballot because she dropped out too late to be removed. Despite officially dropping out. Chang-Diaz still received roughly 15% of the vote as of press time, likely from early voting.

If Healey wins the general election, she will become the first elected female governor of Massachusetts. Jane Swift was acting governor from 2001 to 2003, after taking over for Paul Cellucci, but was not elected to the position.

Healey will face off against Geoff Diehl, a former state representative who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Chris Doughty would have likely posed a more serious challenge to Healey because he is seen as more moderate than Diehl. Massachusetts has a history of electing moderate Republicans as governor, including the aforementioned Mitt Romney and the current Governor Charlie Baker, who is not seeking reelection.

Diehl beat Doughty with 56.3% of the vote, with 35% reporting at press time.

On the Democrat side, we saw a hard-fought competitive campaign between three candidates. The election was called with Kim Driscoll beating out Eric Lesser and Tami Gouveia with 45.2% of the vote with 43% reporting.

Kim Driscoll has been mayor of Salem since 2006. She received a significant boost from a super PAC called Leadership for Massachusetts, which spent $1.2 million to support her campaign.

Eric Lesser was a former staff member of the Obama administration and is a state senator. He promoted his experience working in both federal and state governments during the campaign.

Tami Gouveia is a state representative and focused her campaign on better serving marginalized communities in Massachusetts.

On the Republican side, two former state representatives faced off, with Leah Cole Allen looking like she will beat Kate Camanale. Allen had tied her campaign to Diehl’s and stated that she was running on “Trump-era policies.” Camanale tied her campaign to Doughty and, like him, was running as a moderate Republican.

Despite her close connection to Diehl’s campaign, Allen had a much tougher fight on her hands than Diehl did. The race has not been called at press time, though she seems to be inching towards victory with 51.6% of the vote with 70% reporting.

Andrea Campbell faced off against Shannon Liss-Riordan to fill the spot left by Maura Healey for her gubernatorial run. Campbell beat Liss-Riordan, securing 47.9% of the vote, with 24% reporting.

Andrea Campbell will become the first African American woman to serve as attorney general in Massachusetts. Formerly a Boston city councilor, she was endorsed by former assistant Attorney General Quentin Palfrey, who dropped out a week before the election. Despite dropping out, Palfrey took 16% of the vote.

Liss-Riordan is a workers’ rights attorney and was endorsed by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, and former Boston Mayor Kim Janey, as well as the Massachusetts division of the AFL-CIO and more than 50 other unions. Those endorsements did not seem to resonate with voters. She received 50% of the vote at press time with 69% reporting.

Secretary of state is a position that has received more attention as of late because of its role in election administration and voter registration. Challenger Tanisha Sullivan, who is the president of the Boston branch of the NAACP, argued during her campaign that long-time incumbent William Galvin, who is 71 years old, is incapable of protecting the elections in the wake of Trump's actions following the 2020 presidential election.

Galvin argued that his experience is a positive and not a negative. He has held the position since 1995. Galvin had 70% of the total vote with 69% reporting.

With incumbent Suzanne Bump opting to not run for reelection, Diana DiZoglio and Christopher Dempsey were left to battle it out to take her place.

DiZoglio is a state senator and a former state representative. She has advocated for restricting the use of non-disclosure agreements in the state government and criticized the state government for not providing more coronavirus relief to small businesses.

Dempsey is best known for leading the effort to prevent the Olympics from coming to Boston in 2024.

DiZoglio beat Dempsey with 54% of the vote with 69% reporting

The race for district attorney of Suffolk County, which includes Boston, has garnered increased attention since incumbent Kevin Hayden became embroiled in controversy over his handling of a police misconduct investigation that remains open. Meanwhile, his challenger, Ricardo Arroyo, has been accused of sexual assault, an accusation that he denies.

Hayden defeated Ricardo Arroyo with 54.7% of the vote with 69% reporting.