Incumbents Sweep 2020 Massachusetts Primary Election
MASSACHUSETTS — Incumbents dominated congressional races in Tuesday's Massachusetts Democratic primary, turning back a slate of progressive challengers.
In the only statewide race, Sen. Edward Markey defeated Rep. Joseph Kennedy in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Markey will face Kevin O'Connor, an attorney who defeated Shiva Ayyadurai in the Republican primary, in the November general election.
It was the first time a Kennedy lost a congressional race in Massachusetts.
"No matter the results tonight, I would do this again with all of you in a heartbeat," Kennedy told supporters in Watertown after calling Markey to concede.
The tightest race Tuesday was in the 4th Congressional District, where nine candidates were vying to replace Kennedy. As of 12:20 a.m., with 70 percent of precincts reporting, Jesse Mermell led with 23.1 percent. Jake Auchincloss was in second at 22.3 percent, followed by Becky Grossman at 17.3 percent.
The winner will face Julie Hall, who easily defeated David Rosa in the Republican primary.
Other key results from Tuesday night:
In the 1st Congressional District, Richard Neal claimed victory over challenger Alex Morse.
North Shore U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton staved off two challengers in the 6th Congressional District, easily defeating Angus McQuilken and Jamie Zahlaway Belsito.
Stephen Lynch beat Robbie Goldstein in the 8th Congressional District.
In Reading, Select Board member Vanessa Alvarado survived a recall election. Supporters of the recall claimed Alvarado violated the town charter by blocking ratification discussions of the police chief candidate recommended by the town manager.
Tuesday's primary winners will move on to the general election Nov. 3.
Some voters reported problems with mail-in voting, including never having received their ballots despite requesting them weeks ago. The Boston Election Commission said it had heavy call volume from voters who were still waiting for their ballots. Meanwhile, CommonWealth Magazine reported poll workers were calling the Election Department to verify a mail-in ballot had not been returned before allowing people to vote in-person, causing delays and lines at poling places.
Even though most people voting in the primary had already cast their votes before polls opened Tuesday, Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin warned political junkies not to expect an early night. Officials could not begin counting ballots until polls closed at 8 p.m. Last week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that mail-in ballots had to be in the hands of local election officials by the time polls closed to be counted.
Galvin predicted near-record voter turnout for Tuesday's primary, thanks to changes in rules during the coronavirus pandemic making it easier for people to vote by mail and allowing early voting in the primary for the first time. As of Monday, town and city clerks across Massachusetts had received 768,0o0 Democratic ballots and 88,000 Republican ballots. With 400,000 mail-in ballots outstanding, Galvin expected a flood of ballots Monday and Tuesday and predicted a final total of 1.2 million to 1.3 million ballots would be cast.
Massachusetts primaries have typically seen fewer than one million voters, except in 1990 when Democrat John Silber and Republican Bill Weld each won contested gubernatorial primaries. About 1.5 million people voted that year.
Dave Copeland is Patch's interim managing editor for Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. He can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).
This article originally appeared on the Boston Patch
