Massachusetts
Election 2024: Your guide to Massachusetts’ November election
Massachusetts residents will have the chance to vote on key federal, statewide and legislative races during the Nov. 5 national election.
That includes the race for the White House between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump.
Two members of the Bay State’s all-Democratic U.S. House delegation are facing Republican challengers.
Most of the lawmakers in Massachusetts’ 200-member state Legislature are expected to coast to reelection on Election Day.
Still, 54 lawmakers in the state House and 14 lawmakers in the state Senate will face opposition at the polls.
There also are contests for the Governor’s Council, a little-understood panel that traces its roots to the Colonial era and plays a key role in state government such as confirming judicial nominations and gubernatorial appointments.
Voters also will have their say on five ballot questions on issues ranging from whether to legalize psychedelics to raising the minimum wage for tipped workers.
(Meredith Perri/MassLive)Meredith Perri
How to register to vote — and vote
Here are some of the key dates to remember if you want to vote in the general election:
- Deadline for presidential election voter registration: Oct. 26
- Deadline for presidential election vote-by-mail application: Oct. 29
- General election date: Nov. 5. Polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.
You can confirm you’re already registered to vote by going to the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s website. Enter your name, date of birth, and ZIP code to find out if your voting status is active.
If you have a signature on file with the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, you can register online, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
You can also pre-register, update your address, update your name and change your political party designation.
Voter registration forms can be printed at this link. The form must be filled out and signed, then mailed to a prospective voter’s local election office and postmarked by the voter registration deadline.
Those registering to vote in Massachusetts for the first time should include a copy of identification with the applicant’s name and address. If a copy is not included, one must be presented the first time voting.
To find a local polling location, voters can enter their address on the Secretary of Commonwealth’s website. This will show their precinct number, ward number and the address of where they can vote.
The Big Races
Below we’ve highlighted the key races and questions that Massachusetts voters will decide this fall.
We’ve also included links to MassLive’s top coverage of this year’s candidates and ballot measures to help you make informed decisions.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris during an ABC News presidential debate at the National Constitution Center on Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)AP
The race for the White House
At the top of the ticket, Harris faces Trump in a historic contest.
And that’s true no matter which candidate you support.
If Trump, making his third White House bid, comes out on top, he will be the first president in American history to win an election as the nation’s chief executive after being convicted of a crime, and while still facing pending legal matters.
If Harris wins, she will become the first woman and first woman of color to occupy the Oval Office.
The race was dramatically reshaped after President Joe Biden scuttled his reelection bid in July after a faltering debate performance against Trump weeks before.
Trump survived an attempt on his life during a rally in western Pennsylvania, just days before formally accepting the GOP’s presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
Harris, who rocketed to the top of the ticket after Biden’s exit, formally accepted her party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Trump’s running-mate is U.S. Sen J.D. Vance, R-Ohio. Harris picked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Key coverage from the race:
Trump injured but ‘fine’ after assassination attempt; shooter, 1 other dead
U.S. Sen. JD Vance chosen as Trump’s vice-presidential running mate
President Joe Biden drops out of the 2024 race, throws support behind VP Kamala Harris
In Biden’s speech, a challenge. Are Americans up to it? | John L. Micek
Who is Kamala Harris? 5 things to know about the vice president and White House candidate
Kamala Harris bets on everyman Tim Walz to win. Mass. Dems weigh in | John L. Micek
In Boston, Dem Veep candidate Tim Walz tells firefighters we ‘have your back’
After Tim Walz addresses firefighters union, JD Vance makes his pitch in Boston
Trump-Harris 2024: What Mass. pols are watching for in Tuesday’s debate | John L. Micek
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. and Republican John Deaton will face each other in the Nov. 5 General Election (Photos by Hoang ‘Leon’ Nguyen/The Republican; Sophie Markham/Special to The Republican. MassLive photo collage by Chris McLaughlin).Chris McLaughlin
The U.S. Senate race
Two-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Cambridge faces Republican John Deaton, a cryptocurrency lawyer from Swansea, who’s making his first bid for federal office.
Deaton, buoyed by a wave of cash from Big Tech, beat out two other candidates in the Sept. 3 primary election to win the Republican nomination.
Still, Deaton will face an uphill battle against Warren, a deeply entrenched and well-funded pol, who’s running for reelection in heavily Democratic Massachusetts.
Democrats have attacked Deaton’s residency — he’s a Rhode Island transplant — and his ties to the cryptocurrency industry. Deaton has painted Warren as out-of-touch with Bay State voters.
Polling in the race has been scant. But a June UMass/WCVB-TV poll highlighted Deaton’s challenge.
A third (36%) of its Republican and unaffiliated respondents said they didn’t know which of the three GOP hopefuls to support. None of the GOP hopefuls polled above 19%.
Warren led Deaton 47%-24% in a hypothetical head-to-head match-up in the same poll.
Key coverage from the race:
Who is John Deaton, the long-shot Republican trying to unseat Mass. Sen. Elizabeth Warren?
Crypto is spending big money in the GOP race for US Senate in Mass. Here’s why | John L. Micek
Mass. Primary 2024: John Deaton wins GOP U.S. Senate primary
Warren v. Deaton: The two big things about Mass.’ U.S. Senate race | John L. Micek
The U.S Capitol building in Washington, D.C. (Patrick Semansky/AP Photo)AP
The U.S. House of Representatives
All nine members of the Bay State’s all-Democrat U.S. House delegation are on the ballot, and running for reelection for another two-year term on Capitol Hill.
They are:
- U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-1st District
- U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-2nd District
- U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan, D-3rd District
- U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-4th District
- U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, D-5th District
- U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton D-6th District
- U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-7th District
- U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-8th District
- U.S. Rep. Bill Keating, D-9th District
Just two lawmakers, Lynch and Keating, will have Republican challengers at the polls on Nov. 5.
Lynch will face Robert Burke, a videographer from Milton, who is mounting his second challenge. Lynch has represented the Boston-based seat since 2013.
Keating, who has represented the South Shore-based 9th District — spanning Quincy, the Cape and Islands and New Bedford — since 2013, faces Dan Sullivan, a nurse from Manomet.
A view of the Massachusetts State House, from the steps on Boston Common (John L. Micek/MassLive).John L. Micek
The state Legislature
As we noted above, there are 54 contested House races and 14 contested Senate races this year.
Democrats control both the 40-member state Senate and the 160-member state House. And while there is some competition on the ballot this year, an overwhelming majority of state lawmakers are expected to have smooth sailing on the way to re-election on Nov. 5.
Key coverage:
Primary 2024: Most Mass. state lawmakers will coast to reelection. Here are races worth watching
MassLive’s updated list of state lawmakers who aren’t running for reelection in 2024
The entrance to the Massachusetts Governor’s Council’s chambers on the third floor of the State House in Boston, Mass. (John L. Micek/MassLive).John L. Micek
The Governor’s Council
If you are like most Massachusetts voters, the chances are you don’t give much thought to the Governor’s Council.
But if you must, think of this colonial-era throwback as the Bay State’s political equivalent to Schrödinger’s Cat.
In other words, you know it’s there, and it’s probably doing stuff. But you still need to crack the lid now and then to make sure.
The elected body, also known as the Executive Council, serves a low-profile but very important purpose in state government: It acts on pardons and commutations, confirms judicial nominations and gubernatorial appointments to a host of boards and commissions, according to the state’s website.
There are only three contested races for the eight seats on the council, according to Ballotpedia.
Those races are:
District 2: Tamisha Civil (D); Francis T. Crimmins Jr. (R)
District 5: Eunice Ziegler (D); Anne Manning-Martin (R)
District 7: Paul DePalo (D); Andrew Couture (R)
Incumbent Councilors Joseph C. Ferreira (District 1); Christopher A. Iannella (District 4), and Terrence W. Kennedy (District 6), are running without opposition.
Newly elected Councilor Mara Dolan, who defeated incumbent Councilor Marilyn M. Petitto Devaney in the Sept. 3 primary, also is running without general election opposition, according to Ballotpedia.
Key coverage:
What is the Massachusetts Governor’s Council? Who’s on it? What does it do? | John L. Micek
Mass Primary 2024: Governor’s Council primaries: Results from 3 contested races
Mass. Primary 2024: Mara Dolan wins Governor’s Council 3rd District race
Uber and Lyft stickers are seen on a ride-share vehicle on Aug. 30, 2024. Question 3 on the Massachusetts ballot in November, if passed, would allow ride-share drivers to unionize. (George Walker IV/AP Photo)AP
The Ballot Questions
Voters also will have their say on five ballot questions spanning a variety of issues.
Question 1: Whether to authorize the state auditor to audit the state Legislature, and remove some existing regulations regarding the auditing process.
Question 2: Whether to repeal the requirement that students must achieve a certain competency level on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam to graduate high school.
Question 3: Whether to provide for unionizing and collective bargaining for transportation network drivers.
Question 4: Regulating access to psychedelic substances.
Question 5: Whether to gradually increase the wage of tipped employees until it meets the state minimum wage in 2029 and still permit tipping in addition to the minimum wage.
Key Coverage:
Now it’s up to voters: Can Diana DiZoglio audit the Legislature?| John L. Micek
Fresh off 2023 wins, advocates eye hiking Mass.’ tipped wage in 2024
Mass. high court allows ballot questions for Uber, app-based drivers
Speaking from Springfield, advocates tout benefits of psychedelic therapy
Tool for equity or perpetrator of inequity? 6 viewpoints on MCAS grad requirement
Massachusetts
Massachusetts man charged with threatening girlfriend of FBI Director Patel
Massachusetts
20 new charges brought against former Massachusetts doctor accused of rape
A former Brigham and Women’s Doctor who was charged with raping two patients last year has been indicted on new charges. Derrick Todd, 52, from Wayland, Massachusetts, was indicted by a grand jury on three charges of rape and 17 counts of indecent assault and battery. He is expected to be arraigned on Wednesday, March 25.
“The allegations outlined in those indictments reflect just an extraordinary exploitation of a patient’s vulnerability and abuse of a position of trust,” Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan told reporters.
The new charges stem from allegations by 11 women from the ages of 20 to 60 years old, Ryan said. The crimes allegedly occurred between 2022 and 2023 while Todd was a practicing rheumatologist and primary care physician at Charles River Medical Associates, a private practice in Framingham.
“Allegations include him making inappropriate sexual comments during exams, conducting exams that were excessively painful, and conducting examinations that lasted an unusual and unnecessary amount of time,” Ryan said.
Todd first faced criminal charges last year when he was indicted on charges of raping a 39-year-old woman and 26-year-old woman, both patients at Charles River.
Dozens more women accuse Todd of abuse, some during his time at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital in Boston, with more than 270 plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against him.
“He was a master manipulator. And his ability to groom patients, giving them access, seeing them early hours, late in the evening, texting with them by cellphone privately,” said attorney William Thompson who is representing his accusers.
Faulker Hospital conducted its own investigation and fired Todd. He also relinquished his license to practice.
DA Ryan said her office has completed its investigation but that still leaves room for others to come forward and for other counties to bring charges.
“It’s a journey. It’s day by day, and everyone is a survivor, and everyone is healing in their own way,” Thompson said.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts cop shoots and kills person who was armed with a knife: Norfolk DA
A local police officer fatally shot a person who was armed with a knife and “appeared to be in distress” Wednesday afternoon, according to the Norfolk DA’s office.
The officer-involved shooting happened in Weymouth at around 4 p.m. after police responded to a 911 call for service at the Webb Memorial State Park off River Street.
“Police arrived to that location and encountered an individual with a knife who appeared to be in distress,” the Norfolk DA’s office wrote.
“The Officer immediately administered first aid to the victim prior to transporting him to an area hospital in critical condition,” the office added.
The male who was critically injured was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
The officer-involved shooting was being investigated by the Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Norfolk DA’s office.
The DA’s office added, “There is no ongoing threat to the public.”
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