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Mass. primary results: Deaton to face Warren in November, challenger declares victory over Cambridge incumbent
Republican voters chose John Deaton to be Elizabeth Warren's Republican challenger, while democratic socialist Evan MacKay reportedly forced out a Cambridge incumbent.
During Tuesday’s primary, which had few competitive races, lawyer John Deaton was selected to face Sen. Elizabeth Warren in November, and graduate student Evan MacKay reportedly declared victory over Cambridge incumbent state Rep. Marjorie Decker.
While most of the races for local and federal office were uncontested, voters had a chance to decide on Republican challengers and other local representatives in largely Democrat-controlled Massachusetts.
As of 7 a.m. Tuesday, nearly half a million residents had cast their votes in the state’s primary, which included the Republican candidate for one U.S. Senate seat. Voters also chose a Republican candidate to challenge Rep. Stephen Lynch, who represents part of Boston and areas south of the city.
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Voters also decided on three contested seats on the Governor’s Council, around 30 contested seats in the state legislature, and the Democratic nominee for clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County.
More than 407,000 Democrats, 87,000 Republicans, and 3,000 Libertarians had cast their ballots as of Tuesday morning, according to the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
John Deaton wins Republican primary for U.S. Senate
Warren, the senior senator from Massachusetts, is running for her third term unopposed in this primary. Three Republicans — Ian Cain, John Deaton, and Robert Antonellis — competed to challenge her in November.
Cain, Quincy’s first Black and openly gay president of their city council, announced his bid in April after registering as a Republican in late February. Deaton is a former U.S. Marine and cryptocurrency attorney who recently moved to Massachusetts.
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Antonellis, an engineer and graduate of University of Massachusetts Amherst, said any Republican running for office should support former President Donald Trump. Cain and Deaton won’t vote for Trump, Antonellis writes on his website.
At 8:42 p.m., the Associated Press said Deaton won the Republican primary with four percent of the votes counted. By 9 p.m., he had handily won with 65 percent of the vote. Antonellis came in with 25 percent, while Cain garnered eight percent.
Cain only pulled ahead in his home city of Quincy with 41 percent of the votes over Deaton’s 39 percent, according to The New York Times.
Warren reportedly agreed to two October debates, which Deaton countered by challenging her to five single-issue debates.
“Only in America could someone like me be elected to take on one of Washington’s most entrenched elites,” Deaton told a crowd of his supporters Tuesday.
Robert Burke wins Republican primary for 8th Congressional District
Lynch, who represents Easton, South Boston, and parts of of Plymouth and Norfolk counties in the state’s 8th district, was elected to Congress in 2001 after a special election.
Robert Burke, James Govatsos, and Daniel Kelly competed to be his challenger.
AP officially called the race for Burke with 77.6 percent of votes counted just after 11 p.m. As of 11:12 p.m., Burke had won 47.7 percent of the vote, while Govatsos had 30 percent and Kelly had 22.3 percent of the vote.
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“I want to thank everyone who helped me through this primary,” Burke said in a social media post while waiting outside of a Dedham polling place just after 8 p.m.
In a statement after AP declared him the winner, Burke stressed his position on immigration and the state’s migrant crisis.
“I’m excited to represent the biggest party in MA 8th: The Independents, Democrats, and Republicans who are tired of the Kamala-Lynch open border, and all the migrant aliens eating up +1B in state tax money for hotels. Massachusetts tax money that should have gone to help our kids, our roads, our schools, & our veterans,” he said. “Close the border, let’s get America’s house in order and take care of citizens first.”
Allison Cartwright declares victory for Suffolk County clerk of Supreme Judicial Court
Boston City Councilor Erin Murphy and attorney Allison Cartwright raised hundreds of thousands of dollars and collected prominent endorsements to be clerk of the state’s highest court for Suffolk County.
The position primarily handles admission of lawyers to the bar and matters of attorney discipline. Incumbent Maura Doyle, who held the seat for nearly 30 years, is not running for reelection.
Murphy was the more moderate candidate, with endorsements from Lynch and former Boston Mayor Ray Flynn, WBUR reported. Cartwright ran as the progressive choice, with endorsements from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Rep. Ayanna Pressley. With no Republican in the race, the winner of Tuesday’s Democratic primary is the presumed winner in November.
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Around 10:20 p.m., Cartwright declared victory over Murphy in a video posted to social media.
“This is a victory for democracy, a victory for the independence of court, and especially our state’s highest court,” Cartwright said.
Other closely watched races in Greater Boston
In Somerville, state Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven fought off challenger Kathleen Hornby, who was endorsed by the Somerville Democrats. Uyterhoeven had the backing of prominent progressives like Pressley and Sen. Ed Markey.
No official results were in as of late Tuesday night in the race between state Rep. Marjorie Decker of Cambridge and challenger Evan MacKay as of 11 p.m. But, The Boston Globe reported that MacKay, a democratic socialist, declared victory.
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