Who were the winners and losers in the 2022 Massachusetts primary elections?
The results from the 2022 Massachusetts primary elections held on Tuesday have the state posed to make history. Here’s a look at the latest results.
There are just four more states that will hold primary elections before the nation as a whole will go to the ballot box Tuesday 8 November. The Midterm Elections will decide who controls Congress for the next two years, as well as state houses and a number of governorships across the country.
Massachusetts was the only state to hold a 2022 primary election on Tuesday 06 September. Here’s a look at who won.
Democrat Maura Healey will face Republican Geoff Diehl for governorship
Maura Healey beat her Democratic opponent Sonia Chang-Diaz in a landslide, taking 85 percent of the vote for her party’s nomination. She will face Trump-backed Republican rival Geoff Diehl, who beat Chris Doughty by a margin of over 11 points.
Healey is the favorite going into the 8 November Midterms to be the next governor of Massachusetts which voted strongly for Biden in 2020. She would replace Republican Gov. Charlie Baker who is stepping down.
She currently holds the position of State Attorney General and could make history should she come out on top. Healey would be the first openly lesbian governor in the nation and the first woman elected to the post in Massachusetts. It would also make Massachusetts the first state where the governor and lieutenant governor are both women.
Lieutenant Governor
Democrat Kimberley Driscoll, Mayor of Salem since 2006, saw off two competitors to take her party’s nomination with nearly 47 percent of the vote. She will face Republican candidate Leah Allen, a former state legislator, who got her party’s nomination in a two-way race with 52 percent of the vote.
Attorney General
The Democratic primary for Healey’s open seat was fiercely competitive with three Democrats duking it out. Andrea Campbell took a little over 50 percent of the vote to represent the Democrats on the 8 November ballot.
She will face off against GOP candidate James McMahon, who was uncontested, is an attorney and small business owner. He previously ran for the position 2018 but lost by nearly forty points to Healey.
Secretary of State
William Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts since 1995, easily overcame a primary challenge from Tanisha Sullivan, president of the Boston chapter of the NAACP. He will face Rayla Campbell who was uncontested in the Republican primary.
US House of Representatives
As to who would be on the ballot in the November 2022 Midterm Elections there was little doubt. All nine Democratic incumbents were unchallenged and in only two districts did Republicans have a choice of candidates. The GOP is not even running a candidate in the 4th District.
Remaining states that will hold primaries
There are still four states that will hold primaries for the Midterms. The next states to cast votes will be Delaware, New Hampshire and Rhode Island on 13 September.
Voters in Louisiana will cast their primary votes on Midterm Election Day, 8 November, for the state’s open Senate primary. Several Democrats are challenging the incumbent, Republican John N Kennedy. If no one candidate gets more than 50 percent of the votes, the top two candidates will face off in a runoff election in December.