Results for Primaries in Massachusetts: Potential History-Making Firsts in Massachusetts Statewide Offices

LAST UPDATED: 9.8.22 10:00am ET (final results)

One primary was held on Tuesday in Massachusetts. Full context about women in the 2022 elections, including candidate lists, summaries, and historical comparisons, is available via the Center for American Women and Politics’ (CAWP) Election Watch.

Among the most notable results for women:

• Women are 7 of 11 (63.6%) major-party nominees already selected for statewide elective executive offices in Massachusetts, including 5 of 6 (83.3%) Democrats and 2 of 5 (40%) Republicans. 
  • Incumbent Attorney General Maura Healey (D) won the Democratic nomination for governor and will run in a general election contest currently rated as “Solid Democrat” by Cook Political Report. If successful in November, Healey will be the first women elected governor of Massachusetts; former acting Governor Jane Swift (R) served in the role upon the resignation of her predecessor. Healey – along with Tina Kotek, the Democratic nominee for governor in Oregon – is also one of two openly lesbian women candidates who have won major-party gubernatorial nominations this year. Should they win, they will be the first openly lesbian women governors in U.S. history.
  • Mayor Kim Driscoll (D) won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, while former state Representative Leah Cole Allen won the Republican nomination. Driscoll will run on the same ticket as Democratic gubernatorial nominee Maura Healey (D) in the general election. Women have never served simultaneously as governor and lieutenant governor in any state. This year, four states thus far have women nominees in the same party for both governor and lieutenant governor: Republican nominees in Arkansas and Democratic nominees in Massachusetts, Oklahoma, and Ohio. (While women have never served simultaneously as governor and lieutenant governor, there have been several instances historically where women served as both governor and in a position next in line for succession that was not lieutenant governor.)
  • Former Boston City Councilwoman Andrea Campbell (D) won the Democratic nomination in the open-seat contest for attorney general and Rayla Campbell (R) was unopposed for the Republican nomination to challenge incumbent Secretary of State William Francis Galvin (D). Both of these candidates are Black; no Black women have ever been elected to statewide executive office in Massachusetts. All women who have served in statewide elective executive office in Massachusetts to date have been white. 
• All 3 (3D) women U.S. House incumbents in Massachusetts were unopposed in the primary election and are strongly favored to win re-election in November.
  • Incumbent U.S. Representative Katherine Clark (D) in MA-05 will be challenged by Caroline Colarusso (R) in an all-woman contest currently rated as “Solid Democrat” by Cook Political Report. Colarusso was the Republican nominee for MA-05 in election 2020, when she was defeated by Clark by 48.7 points. For more on all-woman general elections contests, see the CAWP fact sheet Woman vs. Woman: Congressional and Gubernatorial Races.  

Massachusetts

U.S. House

Women currently hold 3 (3D) of 9 seats in the Massachusetts delegation to the U.S. House (33.3%). Seven (5D, 2R) women have served in the U.S. House from Massachusetts.

In 2022, 4 (3D, 1R) women filed as candidates for U.S. House seats in Massachusetts.

Based on primary election results, women are 4 of 17 (23.5%) major-party nominees for U.S. House in Massachusetts, including 3 of 9 (33.3%) Democrats and 1 of 8 (12.5%) Republicans. No women candidates for the U.S. House were unsuccessful.

• All 3 (3D) women incumbents are running for re-election.
  • Incumbent U.S. Representative Lori Trahan (D) is seeking re-election in MA-03. She was unopposed in the Democratic primary and will run for re-election in a contest currently rated as “Solid Democrat” by Cook Political Report.
  • Incumbent U.S. Representative Katherine Clark (D) is seeking re-election in MA-05. She was unopposed in the Democratic primary and will run for re-election in a contest currently rated as “Solid Democrat” by Cook Political Report.
  • Incumbent U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley (D) is seeking re-election in MA-07. She was unopposed in the Democratic primary and will run for re-election in a contest currently rated as “Solid Democrat” by Cook Political Report.
• 1 (1R) woman is a nominee to challenge an incumbent in November.
  • Caroline Colarusso (R) was unopposed in the Republican primary to challenge incumbent U.S. Representative Katherine Clark (D) in MA-05, an all-woman contest currently rated as “Solid Democrat” by Cook Political Report. Colarusso was the Republican nominee for MA-05 in election 2020, when she was defeated by Clark by 48.7 points.

Of the 4 (3D, 1R) women nominees, 1 (1D) woman – Pressley (D, MA-07) – is Black, 1 (1R) woman – Colarusso (R, MA-05) – is Latina, and 3 (2D, 1R) women – Trahan (D, MA-03), Clark (D, MA-05), and Colarusso (R, MA-05) – are white. Carolina Colarusso (R) identifies as both Latina and white.

Statewide Elective Executive Office

Women currently hold 4 (3D, 1R) of 6 statewide elective executive offices in Massachusetts. Nine (6D, 3R) women have served in statewide elective executive offices in Massachusetts, including 1 (1R) woman who served as acting governor: Jane Swift (R), who was lieutenant governor, served as acting governor from April 2001 to January 2003 after Governor Paul Cellucci (R) resigned.

All 6 statewide elective executive offices in Massachusetts are up for election in 2022.

Twelve (9D, 3R) women filed as candidates for statewide elective executive offices up for election in Massachusetts in 2022, including 2 (2D) women candidates for governor.

Based on primary election results, women are 7 of 11 (63.6%) major-party nominees for statewide elective executive offices in Massachusetts, including 5 of 6 (83.3%) Democrats and 2 of 5 (40%) Republicans. Four (3D, 1R) women candidates for statewide elective executive offices were unsuccessful.

• 1 (1D) woman incumbent is a nominee for re-election.
  • Incumbent State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg (D) was unopposed in the Democratic primary and the Republicans did not put forth any candidate for treasurer in the primary election.
  • Incumbent Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito (R) and Auditor Suzanne Bump (D) did not run for re-election. Incumbent Attorney General Maura Healey (D) ran successfully for the Democratic nomination for governor instead of seeking re-election as attorney general.
• 1 (1R) woman won a nomination to challenge an incumbent in November.
  • Rayla Campbell (R) was unopposed in the Republican primary for secretary of state. If elected, she will be the first Black woman (or one of the first Black women) elected to statewide elective executive office in Massachusetts.
• 4 (4D) women are nominees for open-seat statewide elective executive contests.
  • Incumbent Attorney General Maura Healey (D) won the Democratic nomination for governor and will run in a general election contest currently rated as “Solid Democrat” by Cook Political Report. While Healey was one of two Democrats on the primary ballot, State Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz (D) dropped out of the race on June 23, 2022. At the time, she explained that she would keep her name on the primary ballot: “I am keeping my name on the ballot because I think the voters of Massachusetts deserve to have options when deciding who to vote for and because it’s a historic step forward to have gotten the first woman of color on the ballot for governor of Massachusetts.” Chang-Díaz identifies as Latina and Asian American. If successful in November, Healey will be the first woman elected governor of Massachusetts; former acting Governor Jane Swift (R) served in the role upon resignation of her predecessor. Healey – along with Tina Kotek, the Democratic nominee for governor in Oregon – is also one of two openly lesbian women candidates who have won major-party gubernatorial nominations this year. Should they win, they will be the first openly lesbian women governors in U.S. history.
  • Mayor Kim Driscoll (D) won the Democratic nomination and former State Representative Leah Cole Allen (R) won the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Driscoll will run on the same ticket as Democratic gubernatorial nominee Maura Healey (D) in the general election. This is the second all-woman general election gubernatorial ticket selected in election 2022; the first was in Ohio (Democrats Nan Whaley and Cheryl Stephens). In two other states (Arkansas and Oklahoma), women of the same party have been selected separately as nominees for governor and lieutenant governor (Republicans in Arkansas and Democrats in Oklahoma) and run separately in the general election. Women have never served simultaneously as governor and lieutenant governor in any state.
  • Former Boston City Councilwoman Andrea Campbell (D) won the Democratic nomination for attorney general. If elected, she will be the first Black woman (or one of the first Black women) elected to statewide elective executive office in Massachusetts.
  • State Senator Diana DiZoglio (D) won the Democratic nomination for state auditor.

Of the 7 (5D, 2R) women nominees already selected for statewide elective executive office, 2 (1D, 1R) women – Andrea Campbell (D, attorney general) and Rayla Campbell (R, secretary of state) – are Black, 3 (3D) women – Allen (D, lieutenant governor), DiZoglio (D, state auditor), Healey (D, governor), Goldberg (D, state treasurer) – are white, and racial identification is unconfirmed for 1 (1D) woman – Driscoll (D, lieutenant governor). All women who have served in statewide elective executive office in Massachusetts to date have been white.

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For primary results summaries from other states and full results, including candidate lists, summaries, and historical comparisons, see CAWP’s Election Watch.