| office | Races | Incumbent Primaries | Dem. Primaries | GOP Primaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State Representative | 160 | 15 | 22 | 5 |
| State Senate | 40 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| Governor's Council | 8 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Representative in Congress | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Senator in Congress | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
State Primary Deep Dive
Contested primaries for the state legislature, Governor’s Council, Congress, and Senate
This overview covers contested primaries for State Representative, State Senate, Governor’s Council, U.S. Congress, and U.S. Senate on September 3, 2024.
State Representative
There are a fifteen races where a sitting incumbent State Representative is being challenged by someone from their own party and eleven races where the current State Representative is not running and their is at least one party primary. These are pretty big numbers is both categories from a historical perspective.
Incumbent Primaries
There are thirteen Democratic incumbent challenges and two Republican incumbent challenges—fifteen in all.
| State Representative - Sixteenth Essex Incumbent Francisco E. Paulino (D-Methuen) - Former State Rep Devers lost to incumbent Paulino by 161 votes in the 2022 primary after 2021 redistricting |
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| Incumbent | Francisco E. Paulino (D-Methuen) | Current State Representative |
| Marcos A. Devers (D-Lawrence) | Former State Representative, Mayor, Council President | |
| State Representative - Eleventh Hampden Incumbent Bud L. Williams (D-Springfield) - McKnight ran for Springfield mayor in 2015 and draws distinctions with Wiilliams on women’s reproductive rights |
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| Incumbent | Bud L. Williams (D-Springfield) | |
| Johnnie Rs Mcknight (D-Springfield) | ||
| State Representative - Fifth Middlesex Incumbent David Paul Linsky (D-Natick) - Jaymin Patel ran and lost against incumbent Linsky in the 2020 primary |
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| Incumbent | David Paul Linsky (D-Natick) | Candidate for Re-nomination; Former Assistant District Attorney |
| Jaymin A. Patel (D-Natick) | ||
| State Representative - Seventh Middlesex Incumbent Jack Patrick Lewis (D-Framingham) - First-time candidate Phelps hopes to unseat 4-term incumbent Lewis |
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| Incumbent | Jack Patrick Lewis (D-Framingham) | Candidate for Re-nomination; Current State Representative |
| Carlton I. Phelps, Jr. (D-Ashland) | ||
| State Representative - Ninth Middlesex Incumbent Thomas M. Stanley (D-Waltham) - May, Chair of the Waltham Dem. City Committee, hopes to unseat 12-term incumbent Stanley |
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| Incumbent | Thomas M. Stanley (D-Waltham) | Candidate for Re-nomination |
| Heather A. May (D-Waltham) | ||
| State Representative - Eighteenth Middlesex Incumbent Rady Mom (D-Lowell) - Hong lost to Mom by only 56 votes in 2022 Democratic primary |
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| Incumbent | Rady Mom (D-Lowell) | Current State Representative |
| Tara Hong (D-Lowell) | ||
| Andrew W. Kollar (D-Lowell) | ||
| State Representative - Twenty-Fifth Middlesex Incumbent Marjorie C. Decker (D-Cambridge) - One of two progressive Cambridge lawmakers facing a challenge from the left |
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| Incumbent | Marjorie C. Decker (D-Cambridge) | Current State Representative |
| Evan Mackay (D-Cambridge) | ||
| State Representative - Twenty-Seventh Middlesex Incumbent Erika Uyterhoeven (D-Somerville) - One of two progressive Cambridge lawmakers facing a challenge from the left |
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| Incumbent | Erika Uyterhoeven (D-Somerville) | Candidate for Re-nomination |
| Kathleen M. Hornby (D-Somerville) | ||
| State Representative - Twenty-Eighth Middlesex Incumbent Joseph W. Mcgonagle (D-Everett) - City Councilor Marchese lost in a similar challenge in 2022, also 1998 and 1990 |
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| Incumbent | Joseph W. Mcgonagle (D-Everett) | Current State Representative |
| Michael K. Marchese (D-Everett) | ||
| State Representative - Thirty-Fifth Middlesex Incumbent Paul J. Donato (D-Medford) - Mossalam lost to incumbent Donato by only 50 votes in 2022 |
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| Incumbent | Paul J. Donato (D-Medford) | Candidate for Re-nomination |
| Nichole Dawn Mossalam (D-Malden) | ||
| Zayda Ortiz (D-Malden) | ||
| State Representative - Eleventh Plymouth Incumbent Rita A. Mendes (D-Brockton) - Fontaine ran as an Unenrolled candidate in the last 2022 general election won by Mendes, now challenging in the Dem. Primary |
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| Incumbent | Rita A. Mendes (D-Brockton) | Current State Representative; Former Councilor at-Large |
| Fred Fontaine (D-Brockton) | ||
| State Representative - Sixth Suffolk Incumbent Russell E. Holmes (D-Boston) - Previous challenger Hardaway is joined by Adams and previous Nick Collins challenger Pierce |
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| Incumbent | Russell E. Holmes (D-Boston) | Current State Representative |
| Haris H. Hardaway (D-Boston) | ||
| Samuel Pierce (D-Boston) | ||
| State Representative - Eighth Suffolk Incumbent Jay D. Livingstone (D-Boston) - Graf is running an issue candidacy on a disability bil sent to study by a committee Livingstone chairs;, Linardin has run for State Rep and City Council before |
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| Incumbent | Jay D. Livingstone (D-Boston) | Current State Representative |
| Lisa Jeanne Graf (D-Boston) | ||
| Kelechi Linardon (D-Boston) | ||
| State Representative - Second Plymouth Incumbent Susan Williams-Gifford (R-Wareham) - Gaskey campaigning against social teachings in public schools |
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| Incumbent | Susan Williams-Gifford (R-Wareham) | Candidate for Re-nomination |
| John Robert Gaskey (R-Carver) | ||
| State Representative - Seventh Worcester Incumbent Paul K. Frost (R-Auburn) - Frigon is know for advocacy against vaccine mandates |
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| Incumbent | Paul K. Frost (R-Auburn) | Candidate for Re-nomination |
| Michelle L. Frigon (R-Millbury) | ||
Open Seat Primaries
| State Representative - Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket Incumbent Dylan A. Fernandes (D-Falmouth) - is running for the Plymouth and Barnstable State Senate seat |
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|---|---|---|
| Arielle Reid Faria (D-West Tisbury) | ||
| Thomas W. Moakley (D-Falmouth) | Former Cape and Islands Assistant District Attorney | |
| State Representative - Third Berkshire Incumbent William “Smitty” Pignatelli (D-Lenox) - is retiring |
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| Leigh Susan Davis (D-Great Barrington) | Great Barrington Selectboard Member | |
| Jamie M. Minacci (D-Stockbridge) | Current Select Board Member | |
| Patrick Thomas White (D-Stockbridge) | Select Board Member | |
| State Representative - First Bristol Incumbent Fred Jay Barrows (R-Mansfield) - is retiring |
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| Kostas Loukos (D-Mansfield) | Former Town Moderator | |
| David R. Martin (D-Mansfield) | ||
| Michael E. Toole (D-Norton) | Board of Assessors Member; Former Select Board Member | |
| State Representative - Eleventh Essex Incumbent Peter L. Capano (D-Lynn) - is not running |
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| Hong L. Net (D-Lynn) | Current City Councilor | |
| Sean Reid (D-Lynn) | Current School Committee Member | |
| State Representative - Eleventh Middlesex Incumbent Kay S. Khan (D-Newton) - is retiring |
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| Alexander Jablon (D-Newton) | ||
| Amy Mah Sangiolo (D-Newton) | Former City Councilor | |
| State Representative - Twelfth Middlesex Incumbent Ruth B. Balser (D-Newton) - is retiring |
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| Bill Humphrey (D-Newton) | City Councilor | |
| Rick Lipof (D-Newton) | Current Newton City Councilor at-Large | |
| Greg Schwartz (D-Newton) | Former Newton City Councilor at-Large | |
| State Representative - Seventh Norfolk Incumbent William J. Driscoll, Jr (D-Milton) - is running for the Norfolk, Plymouth and Bristol State Senate seat |
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| Christos Alexopoulos (D-Randolph) | Randolph Town Councilor | |
| Tony King (D-Milton) | ||
| Richard Gerard Wells, Jr. (D-Milton) | Current Member, Milton Select Board | |
| State Representative - Thirteenth Norfolk Incumbent Denise C. Garlick (D-Needham) - is retiring |
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| Patrick A. Gatto (D-Needham) | ||
| Kenneth J. Ruetenik (D-Needham) | ||
| Joshua Tarsky (D-Needham) | Veteran | |
| State Representative - First Plymouth Incumbent Mathew J. Muratore (R-Plymouth) - is not running |
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| Michelle L. Badger (D-Plymouth) | ||
| Arthur Thomas Desloges (D-Plymouth) | Town Meeting Member | |
| Scott Francis Hokanson, Sr. (D-Plymouth) | ||
| Stephen Michael Palmer (D-Plymouth) | Plymouth Redevelopment Authority Commissioner | |
| Jesse G. Brown (R-Plymouth) | Veteran | |
| Dee Wallace Spencer (R-Plymouth) | Former Town Meeting Member | |
| State Representative - Tenth Bristol Incumbent William M. Straus (D-Mattapoisett) - is not running |
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| Robert S. Mcconnell (R-Fairhaven) | Fairhaven Town Meeting Member | |
| Joseph M. Pires (R-Rochester) | Current School Committee Member | |
| State Representative - Sixth Plymouth Incumbent Josh S. Cutler (D-Duxbury) - has been named Undersecretary of Apprenticeship, Work-Based Learning, and Policy by Governor Healey |
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| Jane L. Cournan (R-Pembroke) | ||
| Kenneth Peter Sweezey (R-Pembroke) | ||