BOSTON — The early voting is done, scores of ballots have been cast by mail, and preparations are underway for primary election night virtual celebrations and concessions, as long as the winners and losers can be fairly determined after the polls close at 8 p.m. Then it’s on to the Nov. 3 general election for Tuesday’s winners.
Tuesday’s elections feature one of the nation’s most watched U.S. Senate contests, an opportunity for one Democrat to emerge in the race for an open U.S. House seat, and battles that are likely to leave seven candidates situated to fill Massachusetts House seats on Jan. 6, 2021. Up in Lowell, a House Democrat wants voters to re-elect him while he fights federal fraud charges. A Brockton Democrat is looking to hold on to his Senate seat after being punished by his colleagues in connection with his 2018 drunk driving case. And two years after two top House Democrats lost primary races, more than a dozen candidates will try to topple sitting House and Senate Democrats.
While there’s been a lot of hype from the candidates and media and voting opportunities have been expanded this year, voters have often tuned out the primaries. According to data from Secretary of State William Galvin’s office, turnout in the last five primary elections held during presidential elections years has averaged 11.2 percent. Galvin plans a pre-primary media availability on Monday morning.
[ How to vote by mail and track your ballot in Massachusetts ]
Here are some storylines and people to watch in Tuesday’s elections:
U.S. Senate Democratic Primary
There’s more at stake in the race between U.S. Sen. Edward Markey and U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III than just one of the state’s two Senate seats. The legacy of the country’s most well-known political dynasties is also on the line. Kennedy took a risk in taking on an incumbent, and if he comes up short -- as recent polling suggests he might -- he would be the first Kennedy to lose a Massachusetts political race, stunting what has for several years now looked to be a promising national future. The Markey-Kennedy matchup has been circled for quite some time, ever since early polling suggested the four-term Congressman had a healthy advantage entering the race against a long-time fixture of Washington.
The COVID-19 pandemic took some of the wind out of the race’s sails this spring, but the two men representing different generations in recent weeks have gone toe-to-toe over their records, the Kennedy brand and the behavior of their supporters online. Kennedy has knocked Markey as someone out-of-touch with the people of Massachusetts, but Markey has proven resilient. Few would have predicted in the early days of the contest that it would be Markey, at age 74, who would become the dominant force on social media, and go from a politician who had remarkably little name recognition despite his longevity to a darling of the left and youth movements. The Markeyverse, as his online supporters refer to themselves, have turned him into a virtual environmental superhero, thanks to his co-sponsorship of the Green New Deal, and the incumbent appears to have momentum moving into Tuesday, which is the last day for people to vote in person. But voting has actually been going on for weeks, and with widespread mail-in-voting happening for the first time in Massachusetts, who that might favor is anyone’s guess. Meanwhile, on the Republican side of the ballot, Boston lawyer and Dover resident Kevin O’Connor is taking on repeat candidate Shiva Ayyaduai, an MIT-trained engineer.
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Open Fourth Congressional District Seat
How many votes do you need to win? In a race like the one going on in the Fourth Congressional District, the math becomes even more important. So does a candidate’s ability to identify their base and drive them to the polls. It’s not often a seat opens up for Congress in Massachusetts, and recent history has shown that when one does there’s a stampede for the door. U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas retired in 2018, leading to a 10-way primary won by Congresswoman Lori Trahan with 21.7 percent of the vote in the Third Congressional District. The situation in the western suburbs of Boston is not much different this year.
Kennedy’s decision to take on Markey created another opening this cycle, and the field is only slightly smaller. Nine names will appear on the ballot Tuesday, but only seven are still actively competing for the Democratic nomination, and six of those seem determined to make sure one other - Newton City Councilor Jake Auchincloss - doesn’t win.
Dave Cavell, a former senior advisor to Attorney General Maura Healey, and Chris Zannetos, a tech entrepreneur, both dropped out in recent weeks to back Jesse Mermell. Cavell said explicitly that part of his decision had to do with blocking Auchincloss’s path to the nomination. Mermell, who led the Alliance for Business Leadership after working in Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration on Beacon Hill, is considered among the top contenders for the nomination, but there has been much in the way of independent polling. Auchincloss is also a strong contender, and was endorsed by the Boston Globe, but his past identity as a Republican and comments he’s made about the Confederate flag and other topics, have gotten him into hot water with his competitors and progressives.
The rest of the field includes Becky Grossman, whose father-in-law Steve Grossman has been working his party contacts; City Year co-founder Alan Khazei; former Wall Street regulator Ihssane Leckey; Ben Sigel, and Dr. Natalie Linos, a Harvard University epidemiologist. Whoever prevails will be the heavy favorite in a district represented for decades by Barney Frank and then Kennedy, and will take on the winner of the Republican primary between former Attleboro city councilor and retired Air Force officer Julie Hall and Dighton Parks and Recreation Commissioner David Rosa.
Voters Likely Picking Seven New House Members
In seven districts where incumbent lawmakers are not seeking re-election, the only candidates on the ballot are Democrats, so barring the rare successful write-in campaign, the winners will effectively be decided in the primary election:
-- 12th Suffolk District: In a tie for the most crowded legislative primary this cycle, three candidates are running for the 12th Suffolk District after a fourth dropped out. Mattapan attorney Stephanie Everett will aim for a return to Beacon Hill, where she worked for Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz and former Gov. Deval Patrick before leaving for her private practice. One of her opponents, Jovan Lacet, is also an attorney and a former Boston Police Department officer, while the third, Brandy Flukey Oakley also comes from the field of law, where she worked as a public defender after spending years as a public school teacher. Oakley leads in fundraising with more than $60,000 raised compared to Everett’s $40,000 and Lacet’s $24,000, and Oakley also has the backing of the Massachusetts Teachers Union, Sunrise Movement and other organizations. A fourth candidate, Cameron Charbonnier, is on the ballot, but suspended his campaign in July. Charbonnier, a white man, reportedly said at the time that it is “not my moment” and that any of the other three candidates, who are Black, should instead represent a district that is roughly three-quarters people of color. The district is currently represented by Dan Cullinane, who is not seeking re-election.
-- 14th Suffolk District: Former Boston mayoral candidate Rob Consalvo is outpacing the other candidates running, counting more than $102,000 in donations with $32,700 spent. Consalvo, who lost in the 2013 preliminary election for the city’s top spot, is running to succeed Rep. Angelo Scaccia. Attorney Gretchen Van Ness, who counts endorsements from a range of sitting lawmakers, Progressive Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus, also has a sizable fundraising base for the campaign, with $69,000 raised so far and $27,000 spent. The third candidate in the race is Duckens Petit-Maitre, a law school student who has worked as an MBTA operator, a notary public, and a Boston constable. Petit-Maitre lags the other two in fundraising, with state records showing him raising $7,600 so far and committing to $11,600 in spending.
-- 16th Suffolk District: It’s a two-way race in this district currently represented by RoseLee Vincent of Revere. Revere City Councilor Jessica Giannino is facing off against Joseph Gravellese, also of Revere, who has worked as an aide to Rep. Lori Ehrlich and Revere Mayor Brian Arrigo. Giannino has more than doubled Gravellese’s fundraising total with $85,000 raised compared to his $30,000, while Gravellese has the backing of Progressive Massachusetts.
-- 8th Norfolk District: Two candidates are competing for the seat currently held by Rep. Louis Kafka. Ted Philips of Sharon, one of the candidates, has worked as an aide to Kafka for 13 years, currently serving as staff director. Philips is aiming to succeed his boss, citing his work on legislation related to notifying police about license suspensions, ensuring insurance coverage for children with cleft palate and cleft lip, and more. His opponent, Andrew Flowers of Walpole, is an economist and vice-chair of the Walpole Finance Committee. Flowers is running as a self-described progressive, writing on his campaign website that “Beacon Hill is stuck, spinning its wheels, when real action is needed.” The two are almost evenly split in campaign funding: Philips has raised about $50,000 and spent $21,500, while Flowers has raised $51,000 and spent $20,700.
-- 5th Hampden District: Three hopefuls will face off for the seat that Rep. Aaron Vega is giving up. Holyoke’s Patrick Beaudry brings seven years of experience as public affairs manager for the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and past experience as an aide for Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz to the race. Patricia Duffy, another Holyoke resident running for the seat, is a former publishing worker and labor leader who has received endorsements from the Massachusetts Teachers Association and other labor groups. The third candidate in the race is Holyoke City Councilor David Bartley, whose father, also named David Bartley, served as House Speaker in the 1960s and 1970s.
-- 27th Middlesex District: After unsuccessfully attempting to have her opponent tossed from the ballot, Catia Sharp will face off against Erika Uyterhoeven in a race between two Somerville Democrats. Sharp coordinates the Smart Justice Initiatives at the Middlesex County Restoration Center Commission, and she previously worked in the governor’s budget office. Uyterhoeven, who describes herself as an antitrust economist and a Democratic Socialist, is a founder of the Act on Mass organization that has pushed progressive causes on Beacon Hill. Sharp’s campaign filed a formal objection with the State Ballot Law Commission alleging that Uyterhoeven had not lived in the district long enough to qualify for the office, but the commission ruled in June that the complainant did not show enough evidence and allowed Uyterhoeven’s candidacy to stand. This seat is currently represented by Rep. Denise Provost, who is not seeking re-election.
-- 29th Middlesex District: Three candidates are on the ballot in the House district that Rep. Jonathan Hecht of Watertown represents. Transportation consultant Steven Owens is running on a platform highlighting climate change, a statewide “transportation crisis” and affordable housing. He faces longtime Watertown Town Council President Mark Sideris, who is hoping his decades of town-level experience are appealing to voters. The third candidate in the race, David Ciccarelli, has not yet spent any money on the campaign, according to OCPF records. All three candidates live in Watertown.
Challenges to Lynch, Moulton and Neal
Five of the state’s nine members of the U.S. House of Representatives will advance to the November general election by default after Tuesday’s primaries. Another one is leaving the House behind in a bid for a U.S. Senate seat, but three incumbent congressmen -- Reps. Richard Neal, Stephen Lynch and Seth Moulton -- have Democratic primary opponents hoping to unseat them on Tuesday.
Between polarization and gridlock in Washington, D.C., and the rise of a new generation of politicians, the benefits of incumbency have diminished in recent years. Moulton himself won his seat in the House by besting incumbent Democrat John Tierney in the 2014 primary and U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley was elected to the House in 2018 after a successful challenge of Michael Capuano. Nationally, progressive groups have celebrated young candidates unseating older, entrenched members of House leadership -- U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York defeated House Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley and Jamaal Bowman recently topped House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel.
Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse is hoping to add his name to the list of young, progressive candidates who have taken on, and beaten, powerful members of Congress from their own party. The 31-year-old, who made history when he was first elected at the age of 22 to lead his home city, is now hoping to represent the First District that spans much of the western part of the state, including Springfield and the Berkshires. First, he would have to topple Neal, a former Springfield mayor who has served in Congress since 1988 and sits as the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. The Morse team views the matchup as “a referendum on our future: bold, progressive action on behalf of our working people taking on status-quo representation focused on special interests and big money.” Neal’s side points to the congressman’s accomplishments and his position of influence and power at a time when the country faces numerous challenges. “These challenges may be daunting, but my promise to you remains the same: I will always have your back. I went to Congress to fight for hard-working families across this district and across America, and that’s exactly what I intend to keep doing,” Neal writes on his webpage. There is no Republican running in the First District.
In the Sixth District on the North Shore, Democrats Jamie Belsito and Angus McQuilken square off against each other and Moulton in a three-way primary contest. Belsito is the founder of the Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance, worked as an immigration specialist, and interned in the office of U.S. Rep. Joe Moakley. On her website, she details her experience getting laid off from a job while eight months pregnant. “I know what fights are coming. I know what it means to be faced with challenges that can make or break you — losing a job, having no health insurance, keeping a roof over your head, struggling to pay for college or to care of your kids,” she said. McQuilken is a gun reform advocate and life sciences industry booster familiar to many on Beacon Hill from his days as an aide to former state Sen. Cheryl Jacques and communications work for Planned Parenthood and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. When he launched his campaign, McQuilken said his priorities were preventing gun violence, addressing climate change, investing in transportation, improving access to affordable health care, strengthening the local economy, and making college more affordable. Belsito, who has not run for state office before, lives in Topsfield. McQuilken, who lost two state Senate races in 2004 to Scott Brown, also lives in Topsfield. Moulton, who was viewed as a potentially-vulnerable incumbent after opposing the re-appointment of Nancy Pelosi as U.S. House speaker and launching a short-lived presidential campaign, lives in Salem. The winner of the primary is expected to face Republican John Paul Moran of Billerica in November.
Lynch is seeking his 10th full term in the House of Representatives, but standing in his way is Massachusetts General Hospital infectious disease physician Robbie Goldstein of Boston. Goldstein says he is running “to guarantee every person the care and compassion they need to succeed” and argues that the more moderate Lynch is not the best voice to represent a district that is becoming more progressive. Lynch has made the case that his background as an ironworker and roots in South Boston, combined with his experience over almost 20 years in Congress, makes him the right person to most effectively address the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The winner of Tuesday’s primary election would be put on a glidepath to (or back to) Congress -- there is no Republican on the ballot in the Eighth District.
Lowell Democrats Eye Indicted Rep. Nangle
Rep. David Nangle’s February indictment on more than two dozen federal fraud charges did not stop the Lowell Democrat from seeking a 12th term. It did prompt Democratic challengers Lisa Arnold and Vanna Howard to attempt to unseat him, setting up a three-way primary that, with no declared Republican on the ballot Nov. 3, is almost certain to decide whether the Mill City’s delegation will be reshaped. Nangle pleaded not guilty to the charges alleging that he misused tens of thousands of campaign dollars on personal expenses -- ranging from flowers for his girlfriend, gift cards, hotel stays, and meals at restaurants -- and also filed fraudulent tax returns and submitted false information to acquire loans. In the wake of the arrest, Nangle stepped down from his leadership position as second division chair and removed himself from seats on the House’s Ethics and Rules Committees, but he has remained in the House while his case unfolds and wants voters to send him back to Beacon Hill.
Arnold and Howard, both of Lowell, jumped into the race after Nangle’s arrest. They are the first primary challengers the incumbent has faced since 2004. Howard is a former aide to former U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas who now leads the external and government relations department at Lowell Community Health Center and holds board positions at several area nonprofits. An immigrant from Cambodia, Howard would become the second Cambodian-American member of the Lowell delegation alongside Rep. Rady Mom if she won.
Arnold works as a chief of staff for a Cisco executive, and she has also been involved in leadership positions with several activist groups, including Solidarity Lowell, which she helped found. Progressive Massachusetts backed Arnold in its first round of endorsements this summer.
Nangle signs still dot many lawns across his district, and he tops the race by far in fundraising and spending with $95,000 raised since Jan. 1, 2019 and $109,000 spent. Most of that came before his arrest, though: since Feb. 18, the date he pleaded not guilty, Nangle has raised about $34,000 and spent $26,000. Since launching their campaigns, Howard has raised $25,180 and spent $5,600, while Arnold has raised about $33,000 and spent more than $14,000.
Brady-Rodrigues Tops Limited Set of Senate Races
When it appeared Democrats in July would come up short on most of their legislative agenda, some wondered whether they were actually feeling any of the pressure to deliver on their own priorities on behalf of a citizenry struggling to get by during a pandemic. To look up and down the ballot of Senate races this year, a plausible answer is no they do not. Democrats won’t need to do much to retain their super-majority in the Senate and a more central question is whether Republicans, who hold only four seats in the 40-member chamber, will lose any more ground. There are no contested Republican Senate primaries next week and the GOP is running candidates in only eight districts, including just four Republican candidates who are not members of the Senate already. Senate Democrats are more likely, but not by much, to face a challenger from within their own party.
There are just five Senate Democrats - Michael Brady, Nick Collins, Patricia Jehlen, Walter Timilty, and James Welch - with primary opponents on Tuesday. Democrat Jarred Rose of Stoughton, who is competing against Timilty, and Democrat Moises Rodrigues of Brockton, who faces Brady next week, have raised and spent considerable amounts during their campaigns, although Timilty holds a large cash-on-hand advantage over Rose.
Gary Fisher of Cambridge, Adam Gomez of Springfield, and Samuel Pierce of Boston head into primary day trailing in fundraising against Jehlen, Welch and Collins, respectively. Jehlen has raised only about $13,000 this year but has more than $62,500 in cash on hand, compared to $128 for her opponent, Fisher.
The race to watch here appears to be the Brady-Rodrigues contest in the Second Plymouth & Bristol District. To win re-election, Brady needs to convince voters that they should return him to Beacon Hill less than a year after his colleagues stripped him of his $15,000-a-year post as Senate chairman of the Committee on Public Service as punishment for his conduct during his March 2018 drunk driving arrest, which was deemed to be a violation of the chamber’s rules. Rodrigues has slightly outraised Brady this year and the two candidates headed into August with about the same amount of cash on hand, just over $30,000. An at-large city councilor in Brockton and former mayor of that city, Rodrigues, a native of Cape Verde, is running on a progressive platform, pledging to diversify the Senate and bring new ideas to Beacon Hill.
Central Mass. Governor’s Council Seat Up For Grabs
Those elected to the Governor’s Council represent more people than any other non-statewide elected official, but council races are often a ballot afterthought for many voters. The Democratic primary in the council’s seventh district -- which covers almost all of Worcester County as well as parts of Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex and Norfolk counties -- will essentially decide who will fill a council seat that has been vacant since early October, since the two Democrats are the only candidates on the ballot for the position.
The contest pits Paul DePalo of Worcester against Padraic Rafferty, also of Worcester. DePalo ran for the seat two years ago, coming up short with 47.5 percent of the vote against Republican Jennie Caissie. Since that election, Caissie was nominated as clerk magistrate of the Dudley District Court, confirmed to the post by a 5-2 vote of her fellow Governor’s Council members and resigned from the council. The Legislature chose not to exercise its authority to fill the seat until the next election, so it has been vacant since. On his website, DePalo describes himself as “an attorney, former Special Education teacher who developed and taught in alternative programing for at-risk teens, father of two daughters, and member of the Worcester Planning Board.” He touts the endorsements of U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, Worcester area pols like Senate President Emerita Harriette Chandler, Reps. Jim O’Day, John Mahoney, Stephan Hay and Natalie Higgins, Sen. Anne Gobi, and a host of local officials in Worcester, Leominster and Fitchburg.
Rafferty has not run for state office before. His website highlights his “significant litigation experience throughout multiple courts in the Commonwealth” and says he is “respected by the legal community for his advocacy and professionalism.” Rafferty, who worked from 2016 to 2019 as an assistant district attorney in Worcester County, has the support of Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty, former Sens. Dick Moore and Jennifer Flanagan, a bevy of labor unions and Jose Rivera, the assistant chief court officer in Dudley District Court and a former three-time, two-division boxing world champion from Worcester. The winner of the contest is expected to join seven others on the Governor’s Council, which vets and votes on the confirmation of the governor’s judicial nominees and other positions.
Unprecedented Election Circumstances
Massachusetts held local elections this summer amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but conducting Tuesday’s state primary with a large chunk of ballots submitted by mail will be an unprecedented step, and results may not come as quickly as they have in pre-pandemic elections. Through Aug. 18, about a week before the deadline, Secretary of State William Galvin’s office had mailed out nearly 950,000 ballots -- representing almost a quarter of the 4.5 million registered voters in Massachusetts -- as part of a new state law allowing no-excuse mail-in voting.
Lawmakers and activists warned for weeks that cuts and changes to the United States Postal Service could result in many ballots not being counted or results being muddied, prompting Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to declare in mid-August that his organization would walk back operational reforms until after the election. Even with that pledge, Galvin publicly advised all Massachusetts voters who requested mail-in ballots to submit them by hand, either to ballot drop boxes or to local election officials, to ensure they reach their destinations by the 8 p.m. deadline on Tuesday to be counted. That deadline will stand despite a challenge from Fourth Congressional District candidate Becky Grossman after the Supreme Judicial Court declined to add a 10-day extension.
Election night will not look the same this time around, both because of possible delays in confirmed results and because of ongoing precautions against the lingering coronavirus. For decades, candidates, party leaders and supporters have convened at parties to watch results come in and celebrate -- or commiserate -- the outcomes, but indoor gatherings larger than 25 people remain banned under a Gov. Charlie Baker order aimed at ensuring public health.
Committee Chairs, Leaders Challenged in 15 Districts
With Republicans not running or facing long odds in many districts, the biggest challenges to the hierarchies of House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Karen Spilka often come during the primary cycle from fellow Democrats. Both DeLeo and Spilka are unopposed this year, but eight representatives and four senators who chair joint committees have primary opponents, as do two House-specific committee chairs and one House assistant majority leader. As legislative power brokers look to take advantage of their experience and connections to go 15 for 15 in these races, they face several who challengers are well-funded and aiming to bring change to Beacon Hill.
Two years ago, voters in Boston tossed out of office two top members of DeLeo’s team: former Rep. Jeff Sanchez, at the time the House Ways and Means Chair, and former Rep. Byron Rushing. In one of the most high-profile primary races involving a chair, activist and lawyer Jordan Meehan is posing the first primary challenge to Housing Committee Co-chair Rep. Kevin Honan since Honan was first elected to the 17th Suffolk District in 1986. Meehan, a self-described democratic socialist, is running to Honan’s left in his first-ever campaign for state political office. Affordable housing has emerged as one of the central themes for both candidates, particularly amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Through Thursday, Meehan had raised more than $55,000 and spent about $29,700, more than many other challengers attempting to unseat incumbents, but he is being far outspent by Honan, who so far has raised $168,000 and spent $101,000. If he wins another term, Honan is set to become House dean as the longest-serving member, with current Dean Rep. Angelo Scaccia retiring at the end of this term. Rep. Tom Walsh of Peabody would become dean if Honan loses.
One of the most familiar faces in the House, Second Assistant Majority Leader Rep. Paul Donato, faces a challenge from Nichole Mossalam, the inaugural co-chair of the progressive advocacy group Our Revolution Massachusetts and founding director of the Medford Islamic Cultural Center. Donato outraised and outspent Mossalam since the start of the year, bringing in a little over $60,000 and spending $41,486, according to campaign finance data. In the same period, Mossalam received $28,374 in contributions and spent $29,972. And as of July 31, Donato had close to $120,000 cash on hand while Mossalam had around $2,215. Donato received financial support from Speaker Robert DeLeo’s Committee for a Democratic House PAC, which also made contributions to several other House Democrats facing primary challengers. Mossalam has garnered endorsements from the Sierra Club, Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts, and Massachusetts Peace Action. Attorney General Maura Healey endorsed Donato, along with the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, Environmental League of Massachusetts, and a handful of firefighters’ unions in Medford and Malden.
Two other House chairs face opponents who have raised at least $20,000 since the January 2019 start of the two-year lawmaking term. Rep. David Rogers, a Cambridge Democrat who co-chairs the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy, will work to fend off Jennifer Fries of Cambridge, a financial manager and nonprofit leader who earned endorsements from Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui and the Sunrise Movement’s Boston chapter. Rogers was first elected to represent the 24th Middlesex District in 2012. This cycle, he has raised $99,000 and spent about $81,000 compared to Fries’ $21,000 raised and $13,600 spent.
In the 17th Essex District, House Personnel and Administration Committee Chair Rep. Frank Moran of Lawrence is opposed by educator and former Lawrence School Committee member Marianela Rivera, who lags the incumbent in total fundraising $21,550 to $108,000.
Other committee chairs facing Democratic primary opposition are: Revenue Committee Co-chair Mark Cusack of Braintree, challenged by Paul Hennessy of Braintree; Election Laws Committee Co-chair Rep. John Lawn of Watertown, challenged by Alison Leary of Newton; State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Committee Co-chair Rep. Danielle Gregoire, challenged by Jeanne Cahill, both of Marlborough; Financial Services Co-chair Rep. James Murphy of Weymouth, challenged by Melissa Smith of Hingham; the other Financial Services Co-chair Sen. James Welch of West Springfield, challenged by Adam Gomez of Springfield; Elder Affairs Committee and Labor and Workforce Committee Co-chair Sen. Patricia Jehlen of Somerville, challenged by Gary Fisher of Cambridge; Public Service Committee Co-chair Rep. Jerald Parisella of Beverly, challenged by Richard Canavan-Wagner, also of Beverly; Rules Committee Co-chair Rep. William Galvin of Canton, challenged by Tamisha Civil of Stoughton; Veterans and Federal Affairs Committee Co-chair Sen. Walter Timilty of Milton, challenged by Jarred Rose of Stoughton; Export Development Committee Co-chair Sen. Nick Collins, challenged by Samuel Pierce, both of Boston; and House Post Audit and Oversight Committee Chair David Linsky, challenged by Jaymin Patel.
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