Massachusetts 2024 State Primaries

This overview covers contested primaries for State Representative, State Senate, Governor’s Council, U.S. Congress, and U.S. Senate on September 3, 2024.

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 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	Alexander Jablon (D-Newton)
	Amy Mah Sangiolo (D-Newton)	Former City Councilor
State Representative - Twelfth Middlesex Incumbent Ruth B. Balser (D-Newton) is retiring
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	Jane L. Cournan (R-Pembroke)
	Kenneth Peter Sweezey (R-Pembroke)

State Senate

Incumbent State Senators Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford), Adam Gomez (D-Springfield), and Nick Collins (D-Boston) all face primary challengers. State Representative Bill Driscoll (D-Milton) is running for the Norfolk, Plymouth and Bristol seat held by retiring Senator Walter Timilty (D-Milton).

Incumbent Primaries

State Senate - Second Bristol and Plymouth Incumbent Mark C. Montigny (D-New Bedford) Montigny has a campaign account with over $700K while challenger Kivi has not raised or spent campaign money
Incumbent	Mark C. Montigny (D-New Bedford)	Candidate for Re-nomination; Current State Senator
	Molly Kivi (D-New Bedford)
State Senate - Hampden Incumbent Adam Gomez (D-Springfield) Two-term incumbent Gomez is being challenged by city councilor and Rep. Bud Williams aide Malo Brown
Incumbent	Adam Gomez (D-Springfield)	Candidate for Re-nomination; State Senator
	Malo L. Brown (D-Springfield)	Current City Councilor
State Senate - First Suffolk Incumbent Nicholas P. Collins (D-Boston) Community Organizer Skeens has raised a little over $1,000 in his bid to oust Collins
Incumbent	Nicholas P. Collins (D-Boston)	Current State Senator
	Juwan Khiry Skeens (D-Boston)

Open Seat Primaries

State Senate - Third Bristol and Plymouth Incumbent Marc R. Pacheco (D-Taunton) is working on the new Transatlantic Climate Alliance
	Joseph Richard Pacheco (D-Raynham)
	Barry Christopher Sanders (D-Taunton)	Taunton City Councilor
State Senate - Norfolk, Plymouth and Bristol Incumbent Walter F. Timilty, Jr. (D-Milton) is running for Norfolk County Clerk of Courts
	Erin G. Bradley (D-Milton)	Current Select Board Member, Milton
	Kathleen Crogan-Camara (D-Randolph)
	William J. Driscoll, Jr. (D-Milton)	Current State Representative
State Senate - Plymouth and Barnstable Incumbent Susan Lynn Moran (D-Falmouth) is running for Barnstable County Clerk of Courts
	Kari Macrae (R-Bourne)	Current School Committee Member
	Mathew J. Muratore (R-Plymouth)

Governor’s Council

There are two incumbent primary challenges and an open seat for the Governor’s Council. Mara Dolan stands a very good chance of unseating Devaney who has held the seat for 25 years.

Governor’s Council - Second Incumbent Robert L. Jubinville (D-Milton) was appointed as Clerk Magistrate of Framingham District Court
	Tamisha L. Civil (D-Stoughton)	Current Town Meeting Member
	Muriel Elaine Kramer (D-Hopkinton)	Former Hopkinton Selectboard Member; Veteran
	Sean Murphy (D-Bridgewater)	Veteran
	David S. Reservitz (D-Needham)
Governor’s Council - Third Incumbent Marilyn M. Petitto Devaney (D-Watertown) Dolan is getting grassroots and mainstream party support in her aggressive campaign to unseat 25-year incumbent Devaney
Incumbent	Marilyn M. Petitto Devaney (D-Watertown)	Current Governor's Councillor; Candidate for Re-nomination
	Mara Dolan (D-Concord)
Governor’s Council - Fourth Incumbent Christopher A. Iannella, Jr. (D-Boston) 30-year Brockton incumbent Iannella faces two challengers but has a sizeable fundraising advantage
Incumbent	Christopher A. Iannella, Jr. (D-Boston)	Present Governor's Councillor
	Stacey K. Borden (D-Boston)
	Ronald Primo Iacobucci (D-Quincy)

U.S. Congress

Unlike the State Representative, State Senate, and Governor’s Council races, the primary race for the Eighth Congressional seat represented by Stephen Lynch is not an incumbent challenge or for an open seat, but rather to determine the Republican to face Lynch in the general election. None of the GOP challengers seem to be taking this race seriously and only Govatsos has raised any money—less than $5,000.

Representative in Congress - Eighth Incumbent Stephen F. Lynch (D-Boston) Only Gavatsos has done any fundraising or campaigning for this primary
	Robert G. Burke (R-Dedham)
	James M. Govatsos (R-Walpole)
	Daniel Kelly (R-Boston)

U.S. Senate

There are also three Republicans vying for the GOP nomination to face Senator Elizabeth Warren in the November 5 general election. John Deaton (R-Swansea) has raised close to a half a million dollars, but has less-than-stellar chance against Elizabeth Warren if he is the Republican who makes it to the general.

Senator in Congress - Statewide Incumbent Elizabeth Ann Warren (D-Cambridge) Cryptocurrency advocate Dean has had the highest profile and done the most fundraising, followed by Cain, while Antonellis has not made much of an effort
	Robert J. Antonellis (R-Medford)
	Ian Cain (R-Quincy)	Current Quincy City Councilor
	John Deaton (R-Swansea)	Veteran; Former Special Assistant United States Attorney