It was a good night for incumbents in Massachusetts primaries. (It usually is.) But the state is poised to elect a few new faces to public office. Let's get right to yesterday's results: Gubernatorial go-time: Gov. Maura Healey, the incumbent Democrat who had no primary challengers, will face Republican nominee Mike Minogue this fall. Minogue beat fellow GOP candidate Brian Shortsleeve with more than 75% of the vote (with 94% of ballots counted). Minogue, who lives in Hamilton, ran the Massachusetts-based medical device company Abiomed until it was sold for nearly $17 billion in 2022. He's put a staggering $15 million of his own money into the campaign. - Get to know him: Minogue spoke about his strategy for taking on Healey in this in-depth interview. Meanwhile, WBUR's Simón Rios has details on his stance on immigration and ICE and Gin Dumcius goes over his other positions here.
- His running mate: Minogue is now set to team up with New Bedford City Councilor Shawn Oliver, who won the GOP primary for lieutenant governor even though he campaigned with Shortsleeve. Why? Minogue's preferred running mates were both blocked from the ballot due to signature-gathering issues. Despite some bitter moments on the trail, Oliver is now hoping to smooth things over.
- What's next: Healey has agreed to two debates this fall. During a rally last night, she previewed what's likely to be her main argument against Minogue, a major donor to President Trump. "We're going to send a message, that if you support Donald Trump, if you funded him, if you endorsed the bad things he's done to our state, then you cannot be governor of Massachusetts," Healey said.
Markey vs. Moulton: For the second primary in a row, Markey defeated a younger challenger who tried to make age an issue in the race — this time by a much wider margin. With 95% of ballots counted, Markey got 65% of the vote, nearly doubling Seth Moulton's 35%. Moulton's pitch did seem to move some voters, but he ultimately joins erstwhile Rep. Joe Kennedy III in Markey's electoral graveyard. - What's next: In the general election, Markey is set to face Republican nominee John Deaton, who you may remember ran for Senate (unsuccessfully) just two years ago against Sen. Elizabeth Warren. As for Markey, if he wins in November, the 80-year-old has pledged this will be his final term.
If at first you don’t succeed: Eight years after his first congressional bid, Dan Koh won the crowded race for Moulton's seat — despite a last-minute effort by progressives to boost one of his opponents. Koh previously served as chief of staff to Marty Walsh (both when Walsh was Boston's mayor and U.S. labor secretary), before working as a special assistant to President Joe Biden. He narrowly lost the 2018 Democratic primary in the 3rd District to now-Rep. Lori Trahan, before his hometown of Andover was redistricted into the 6th District. Now, he's poised to join Trahan — who waded into this year's race just last week to endorse state Rep. Tram Nguyen — in the state's delegation. - What's next: Koh still has to win the general election against Essex lawyer and Army veteran Micah Jones, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary. The 6th District hasn't sent a Republican to Congress in over three decades.
Around the delegation: Five of Massachusetts' U.S. House members faced challengers in their primaries — and all five beat their challengers. In the 8th District, Rep. Stephen Lynch fended off a challenge from the left in lawyer Patrick Roath by a 11% margin. But perhaps the biggest surprise was in the 1st District, where high school teacher Jeromie Whalen and his yellow bus came within single digits of taking down longtime Rep. Richard Neal. Click here for a full look at the congressional results. There's a new district attorney in town: It's still a little too close to call the open Norfolk County district attorney's race to replace the outgoing Michael Morrissey. But seasoned attorney Djuna Elizabeth Perkins has a nearly 3,000-vote lead over Karen Read-backed former federal prosecutor Adam Deitch with 94% of ballots counted. On Beacon Hill: "Closely watched" and "state Senate race" aren't generally terms you see linked during primary season. But 2026 has been different thanks to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who backed challengers against two state senators who thwarted her efforts at temporarily shifting the property tax burden away from Boston residents and toward businesses. - The results for Wu? Mixed, at best. State Sen. Nick Collins appears poised to return to the State House after his challenger, education activist Latoya Gayle, conceded the race late last night. Meanwhile, state Sen. Will Brownsberger is just hanging on. He's leading former Wu aide Daniel Lander by a few dozen votes with 99% of ballots counted.
A few other notable State House primary results: - Democratic socialist state Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven appears to have won the Democratic primary for longtime state Sen. Pat Jehlen's district covering Somerville/Medford, beating a more institutional progressive endorsed by Jehlen and Healey, along with two other candidates.
- In Cambridge, incumbent state Rep. Marjorie Decker has a 505-vote edge in her rematch against labor organizer Evan MacKay.
- Chris Lampton, a former TV host and contestant on “The Bachelorette,” won the primary to replace state Rep. Chris Flanagan, a Cape Cod Democrat facing federal fraud charges.
- Melrose state Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian won the Democratic primary for outgoing state Sen. Jason Lewis' suburban seat north of Boston.
P.S.— Want to dive deeper into the results? We have a lot more election results on our website. You can look up every State House primary result here. Or see how your community voted in the Republican gubernatorial primary with this town-by-town results map. |
