An overview of the 2022 State Representative Primaries
A look at the MA State Representative contested primaries
State Represenative Primary Overview
There are 34 State Representative districts with contested primaries with the State Primary occurring on Sept 6, 2022. There are 19 open seats with 13 having a Democratic primary, 1 have a GOP primary, 4 with only a general election matchup, and 1 seat—the 15th Essex—with a single candidate.
There are There are 17 Democratic incumbents with primary challenges, while no Republican House incumbent faces a primary challenge. One incumbent Democrat, William Straus (D-Mattapoisett) of the 10th Bristol District, faces a primary challenge and two GOP challengers, only one of which will survive a Republican primary.
Open Seats
There are nineteen open State Representative seats of which thirteen have Democratic primaries and one has a Republican primary.
4th Essex
The entirely reconfigured 4th Essex district has a Hispanic citizen voting age population (CVAP) of 57%. The current 4th Essex representative, Jamie Belsito (D-Topsfield), as elected in a November 2021 special election to replace Bradford Hill (R-Ipswich) was redistricted into the 13th Middlesex District represented by Sally Kerans (D-Danvers). Belsito does not appear to be challenging Kerans.
Perennial candidate, former Mayor, and former State Representative William Lantigua is in the running, but has not raised any money and did not participate in candidate forums and debates.
James McCarty is a Methuen City Councilor who is finishing up his time on the council due to term limits and is a current law student who plans to take the bar in July 2023.
Estela Reyes is five term City Councilor from Lawrence and a long-term presence on the Lawrence political scene.
The 4th Essex district is almost evenly split by population between Methuen and Lawrence, but 58% of the citizen age voting population comes from Methuen vs. 42% for Lawrence. There may end up being some level of splitting caused by the Lantigua candidacy, reducing the power of the Lawrence and hispanic voting populations.
7th Essex
The 7th Essex District is one of the four State Representative districts that is comprised of a single, complete municipality—in this case Salem. State Representative Paul Tucker (D-Salem) chose to run for Essex County District Attorney, leaving the seat open.
Manny Cruz is a former Tucker aide and current Vice Chair of the Salem Public School District School Committee. Cruz has received some high profile endorsements, including that of Salme Mayor Kim Driscoll, who is also a candidate for Lieutenant Governor.
Domingo Dominguez is an at-large Salem City Councilor and was a backer of Mayor Driscoll’s challenger in the previous mayoral election.
Candidate Gene Collins has not raised any money for the campaign and there is little information about Collins or his platform in the news.
8th Essex
There is a crowded field vying to replace State Representative Lori Ehrlich (D-Marblehead) of who is leaving her 8th Essex seat to become Region 1 Administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
There are six Democratic candidates, three from Marblehead and three from Swampscott. The district also contains two precincts from Lynn.
The major story of the campaign has become the endorsement of political neophyte Tristan Smith by Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey, who has a long-standing relationship with Smith’s father James Smith.
There has also been a debate about candidates like Douglas Thompson who have significantly self-funded their campaigns, rather than being forced to compete with their ideas and credentials for more and smaller individual donations.
8th Hampden
State Representative Joe Wagner (D-Chicopee) is retiring after having represented the 8th Hampden District for 30 years. The 8th consists of a little over three quarters of Chicopee, by population.
The candidates for the Democratic nomination are Ward 1 City Councilor Joel McAuliffe and At Large City Councilor Shirley Arriaga.
Arriaga is a public school teacher at Chicopee High School and is an Air Force veteran, and has received the endorsement of Attorney General and Governor candidate Maura Healey.
McAuliffe has served as an aide to Mayor Richard Kos, and then State Senator Eric Lesser and has received the endorsement of Lesser.
1st Middlesex
The 1st Middlesex has been represented by State Representative Sheila Harrington (R-Groton) who has been appointed as Clerk Magistrate of the Gardner District Court. The district has been reconfigured to take three precincts of Lunenburg from the 37th Middlesex District and should be one of the most competitive general election races in November with a Partisan Voter Index (PVI) of D+2.
The only primary is for the Republican nomination which features local farmer Andrew Sullivan of Townsend and Lynn Archambault of Pepperell. Sullivan has attempted to portray himself as a moderate conservative, while Archambault hews more to Trump-style politics.
The winner of the GOP primary will face Democrat Margarate Scarsdale of Pepperell and undeclared candidate Catherine Lundeen.
6th Middlesex
The 6th Middlesex District was redistricted without attention to incumbent Maria Robinson (D-Framingham) who has been in the process of taking a job with the U.S. Department of Energy.
There are three candidates for the Democratic nomination: former Framingham City Councilor Margareth Shepard, Framingham School Committee member Priscila Sousa, and local activist and Former Framingham mayoral candidate Dhruba Sen.
14th Middlesex
The current 14th Middlesex State Representative Tami Gouveia (D-Acton) is running for Lieutenant Governor leaving the seat open. There Democrats vying for the Democratic nomination.
Vivian Birchall is a TV producer from Acton and has secured the endorsements of State Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) and State Representative Daniel Sena (D-Acton). Prosecutor Simon Cataldo of Concord is running largely on a reproductive rights platform and has the endorsement of the Planned Parenthood Advocy Fund of Massachusetts. Chelmsford Select Board Member Pat Wojtas has been running on her municipal experience and is advocating for a change to the states funding and local aide models.
Incumbent Challenges
There are 17 incumbent House Democrats facing an intra-party primary challenge. There are no Republican incumbents facing a GOP primary challenge.
4th Barnstable
Eight term incumbent State Representative Sarah Peake (D-Provincetown) faces challenger Jack Stanton, also of Provincetown. Stanton previously ran against Republican State Representative Randy Hunt in the 5th Barnstable district when he lived in Sandwhich. Peake, the Second Assistant Majority Leader in the House is stressing the need for more affordable housing, while Stanton is campaigning for increased transparency in the legislature with term limits for Speaker of the House.
1st Berkshire
State Representative John Barrett (D-North Adams) faces a primary challenge from Paula Kingsbury-Evans who is a recent graduate of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, also from North Adams. Barrett is the former Mayor of North Adams and was first elected in a 2017 special election after the death of Representative Gailanne Cariddi. Kingsbury-Evans is also running on the issue of transparency in the legislature.
9th Bristol
State Representative Christopher Markey (D-Dartmouth) faces a challenge from New Bedford resident Cameron Costa, a 20 year old recent graduate of University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Markey is stressing his experience, while Costa says that change is needed and is arguing for increased education funding.
5th Essex
State Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante (D-Gloucester) faces a primary challenge from D. Nathaniel Mulcahy of Rockport. Ferrante is Vice Chair of House Committee on Ways and Means, the important committee that determines spending. Mulcahy is a former teacher and is the Chair of the Rockport Democratic Town Committee. Mulcahy is campaigning for increased transparency in the legislature, a theme among Democratic challengers.
16th Essex
State Representative Marcos Devers (D-Lawrence) faces a primary challenge from Francisco Paulino of Methuen. Devers has been an educator in the region for thirty years. Paulino is a 22 year old lawyer and tax associate who advises the City of Lawrence on economic development and has served on the Lawrence School Committee.
11th Hampden
State Representative Bud Williams (D-Springfield) faces a challenge from Jynai McDonald, also of Springfield. Williams has served as State Representative of the 11th Hampden District since 2016 and before that was a fixture on the Springfield City Council. McDonald is a local activist who has not held political office and wants to expand investments in the community.
9th Middlesex
State Representative Tom Stanley (D-Waltham) faces a primary challenge from Heather May of Waltham. May is Chair of Waltham Demoractic Town Committee, a volunteer, and educator at Emerson College. May is running as an outsider and is calling for transparency and accountability. Stanley is running on his office’s constituent services and successful passing of clean energy and economic development legislation.
18th Middlesex
State Representative Rady Mom (D-Lowell) faces two challengers for the Democratic nomination, recent UMass Lowell graduate Tara Hong and Lowell School Committee member Dominik Lay. When Mom was first elected to the legislature in 2014, he was the first Cambodian-American lawmaker in the country. His two challengers are also Cambodian born. Mom is running on his strong legislative record. Hong portrays himself as a progressive reformer, and Lay stresses independenc.
21st Middlesex
State Representative Kenneth Gordon (D-Bedford) faces a primary challenge from 24 year old Timothy Sullivan of Burlington. Sullivan is running on a platform of increasing affordability of public college education. Gordon has received endorsements from Congresswoman Catherine Clark and Senator Ed Markey.
27th Middlesex
First term State Representative Erika Uyterhoeven (D-Somerville) faces a primary challenge from entrepreneur Jason Mackey, also of Somerville in the incredibly progressive D+39 27th Middlesex District. Uyterhoeven ran on an unapologetically Democratic Socialist platform in 2020 and the differences with Mackey are not large. Mackey stresses his personal story and work for social justice.
28th Middlesex
State Representative Joseph McGonagle (D-Everett) faces a primary challenge from Everett city employee, financial professional, Haitian activist, and community organizer Guerline Alcy.
35th Middlesex
State Representative Paul Denato (D-Medford) faces a primary challenge from Nichole Mossalam, founding director of The Islamic Cultural Center of Medford and former chair of Malden’s Disability Commission.
1st Norfolk
State Representative Bruce Ayers (D-North Quincy) faces a primary challenge from small business owner Casey Dooley.
6th Norfolk
State Representative William Galvin (D-Canton) faces a primary challenge from Tamisha Civil of Stoughton who is a probation officer and previously worked in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.
15th Norfolk
The challange to State Representative Tommy Vitolo (D-Brookline) from Brookline Select Board Member Raul Fernandez has generated a great deal of attention due to the number of high-profile endorsements on both sides. Governor Michael Dukakis is backing Vitolo, while Sonia Chang-Diaz and Joe Kennedy III are backing Fernandez.
6th Suffolk
State Representative Russell Holmes (D-Mattapan) faces a primary challenge from former elder services worker and consultant Haris Hardaway of Dorchester.
17th Worcester
State Representative David LeBoeuf (D-Worcester) faces a primary challenge from former Worcester Library Trustee Michelle Keane. LeBoeuf has been dealing with the after effects of a drunk driving charge and treatment for alcoholism. Keane has somewhat downplayed the drunk driving charge while making the case that she would be better able to affect change for the district.