• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Events
  • Civic Ed
  • Campaign Finance
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • Independent Voter News
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. primary election>

What to watch for in the Massachusetts primaries

David Meyers
https://twitter.com/davidmeyers?lang=en
September 06, 2022
Kristi Noem, Geoff Diehl and Leah Cole Allen

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (left) attended a fundraiser Aug. 10 in Massachusetts for GOP gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl and Leah Cole Allen (right), who is running for lieutenant governor.

Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Massachusetts hasn’t thrown its electoral votes toward the Republican presidential candidate since 1984 and it hasn’t had a Republican senator since the Carter administration. And yet, the state has had just two Democratic governors since the mid-1960s. On Tuesday, GOP voters will decide which candidate will try to keep up that gubernatorial dominance in the November election.

The Bay State’s semi-open primary, the only one being conducted Tuesday, will determine candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state auditor, and other federal and local offices. Massachusetts is the only state conducting a primary this week.

State Attorney General Maura Healey is a lock for the Democratic nomination for governor, and she will face either former state Rep. Geoff Diehl or businessman Chris Doughty in November. Diehl has been endorsed by Donald Trump and hopes to ride the former president’s backing to the nomination, while Doughty claims he is the only Republican capable of defeating Healey.


The Republican candidates have each informally aligned with a former state representative seeking the lieutenant governor nomination, as Diehl and former Leah Cole Allen are campaigning together against Doughty and Kate Campanale.

Three Democrats – Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll, state Rep. Tami Gouveia and state Sen. Eric Lesser – are competing to be Healey’s running mate.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Other races:

  • Republican Jay McMahon, an attorney, is running unopposed for the attorney general nomination and will face either former Boston City Council President Andrea Campbell or attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan in November.
  • Incumbent William Galvin is trying to fend off an intraparty challenge from fellow Democrat Tanisha Sullivan so he can extend his 28-year run as secretary of state. Rayla Campbell, an insurance claims specialist, is the only candidate in the GOP primary. Galvin is the only statewide incumbent on the ballot but the party threw its support to Sullivan, head of the Boston chapter of the NAACP, at a convention earlier this year.
  • The state auditor contest features a two-person Democratic primary involving former state transportation official Chris Dempsey and state Sen. Diana DiZoglio. The winner will face Republican Anthony Amore, who has a background in security and investigations.
  • Massachusetts has nine congressional districts. Democrats hold every seat and all of the incumbents are running unopposed in the primaries. There are competitive GOP primaries in two districts.

Massachusetts, with its divided government, has made few permanent changes to its election system since the outbreak of Covid-19 and the unfounded allegations of voter fraud that have been raised by Donald Trump and his allies.

But in June 2022 the state did enact a wide-ranging election law. Its provisions include:

  • Requiring jurisdictions to allow early voting and extending the window for casting such ballots, including weekends.
  • Requiring a police presence at all polling locations.
  • Requiring jurisdictions to offer voting by mail in most elections.
  • Requiring the state to send early voting applications, with prepaid return postage, to all registered voters.
  • Allowing someone to apply for a mail ballot on behalf of a family member.
  • Expanding ballot options for disabled voters.
  • Expanding electronic voting options for military and overseas civilian voters.
  • Expanding the options for returning mail ballots.
  • Extending the deadline for the officials to receive mail ballots.
  • Requiring voter registration and voting services for eligible incarcerated voters.
  • Requiring correctional officials to provide voter information to people upon their release from prison.
  • Extending the voter registration deadline and requiring the online system to be available in multiple languages.
  • Directing the secretary of state to join ERIC, an interstate system for sharing voter registration information to facilitate maintenance of the voter rolls.

Read more about election law changes in Massachusetts.

From Your Site Articles
  • Mailed ballots boosted 2020 turnout. Will they work in 2022? - The ... ›
  • Voting in 2022: The impact of partisan gerrymandering - The Fulcrum ›
  • California's top two primary is a good model for democracy - The ... ›
  • Preventing domestic interference in the 2022 elections - The Fulcrum ›
Related Articles Around the Web
  • Here's Who's on the Massachusetts Primary Ballots for 2022 ›
  • How to vote in the 2022 elections for Massachusetts governor ... ›
  • Massachusetts elections, 2022 - Ballotpedia ›
  • Here's a breakdown of all the races on your jam-packed ... ›
primary election

Join an Upcoming Event

Democracy Happy Hour

Fix Democracy First
Feb 01, 2023 at 5:00 pm CDT
Read More

STAR Voting California Monthly Meeting

Equal Vote
Feb 01, 2023 at 6:00 pm PDT
Read More

Oregon STAR Voting Monthly Meeting

Equal Vote
Feb 07, 2023 at 6:00 pm PDT
Read More

Democracy Happy Hour

Fix Democracy First
Feb 08, 2023 at 5:00 pm CDT
Read More

STAR Voting Oregon Chapter Meeting

Equal Vote
Feb 08, 2023 at 6:00 pm CDT
Read More

Democracy Happy Hour

Fix Democracy First
Feb 15, 2023 at 5:00 pm CDT
Read More
View All Events

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Follow
Contributors

Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

Layla Zaidane

Two technology balancing acts

Dave Anderson

Reform in 2023: It’s time for the civil rights community to embrace independent voters

Jeremy Gruber

Congress’ fix to presidential votes lights the way for broader election reform

Kevin Johnson

Democrats and Republicans want the status quo, but we need to move Forward

Christine Todd Whitman

Reform in 2023: Building a beacon of hope in Boston

Henry Santana
Jerren Chang
latest News

Flame retardants in your earbuds? Toxic chemicals in homes? Left and right are sick of It.

Joan Blades
John Gable
13h

What can replace religion for peace of mind and shared moral values?

Daniel O. Jamison
13h

Part IV: Reforming constitutional convention campaigns

J.H. Snider
30 January

Winning GOP strategy in 2024 – back to business with immigration reform

Neil Hare
30 January

Podcast: Separating news from noise

Our Staff
30 January

Podcast: Deepening democracy in the states

Our Staff
27 January
Videos

Video: What the speakership election tells us about the 118th Congress webinar

Our Staff

Video: We need more bipartisan commitment to democracy: Pennsylvania governor

Our Staff

Video: Meet the citizen activists championing primary reform

Our Staff

Video: Veterans for Political Innovation - Who we are

Our Staff

Video: Want to fight polarization? Take a vacation!

Our Staff

Video: Kevin McCarthy is Speaker, but he's got a tough job ahead

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Separating news from noise

Our Staff
30 January

Podcast: Deepening democracy in the states

Our Staff
27 January

Podcast: How the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack impacted politics

Our Staff
26 January

Podcast: Why we misunderstand independent voters

Our Staff
25 January
Recommended
Flame retardants in your earbuds? Toxic chemicals in homes? Left and right are sick of It.

Flame retardants in your earbuds? Toxic chemicals in homes? Left and right are sick of It.

Big Picture
What can replace religion for peace of mind and shared moral values?

What can replace religion for peace of mind and shared moral values?

Big Picture
Video: What the speakership election tells us about the 118th Congress webinar

Video: What the speakership election tells us about the 118th Congress webinar

Congress
Part IV: Reforming constitutional convention campaigns

Part IV: Reforming constitutional convention campaigns

State
Winning GOP strategy in 2024 – back to business with immigration reform

Winning GOP strategy in 2024 – back to business with immigration reform

Big Picture
Podcast: Separating news from noise

Podcast: Separating news from noise

Podcasts