Voters in the US state of Massachusetts head to the polls on Tuesday for a primary election featuring a closely watched United States Senate contest between Democratic incumbent Senator Ed Markey and US Representative Seth Moulton. The race is the latest contest that pits the Democratic Party’s progressive and moderate wings against each other. But in a twist, Moulton, the challenger, is part of the moderate New Democrat Coalition, while Markey, the longtime progressive incumbent, is fighting to hold on to his seat.
Voters will also decide competitive Democratic primaries in the 6th and 8th Congressional Districts, as well as races for the state’s governor, state legislature, and district attorney. The Massachusetts primary is Tuesday, September 1, 2026. Polls open at 7am ET ( ) and close at 8pm ET (midnight GMT).
In the 6th District, voters will choose a Democratic nominee to succeed Moulton. The top contenders include former local election official Dan Koh, financial technology executive John Beccia, and Massachusetts State Representative Tram Nguyen. Koh enters Tuesday as the leading fundraiser, with about $4.7m in contributions, and has endorsements from former US President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Nguyen has raised about $895,000, while Beccia has boosted his campaign’s spending power with a $4m personal loan. The winner will face Republican Micah Jones, who is unopposed for his party’s nomination. In the 8th District, 13-term Democratic incumbent Representative Stephen Lynch, 71, faces a primary challenge from progressive attorney Patrick Roath, 39, who is endorsed by Leaders We Deserve, the political action committee (PAC) headed by gun-safety activist and political organiser David Hogg.
Roath has criticised the centrist voting record of Lynch, who broke with Democrats to vote against former US President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act in March 2010, and who was Massachusetts’s only congressional member to vote for current US President Donald Trump’s Laken Riley Act, which requires federal law enforcement to detain and deport immigrants who have been charged with nonviolent crimes regardless of whether those charges ever result in a conviction. The winner will face a midterm election against Republican Robert Burke, who runs uncontested and who lost his 2024 bid for Congress to Lynch. In the gubernatorial race, the Democratic primary is effectively uncontested, with incumbent Governor Maura Healey running for the Democratic nomination, but with two Republican candidates vying for Healey’s seat.
Brian Shortsleeve and Michael Roger Minogue, who are running in the GOP primary, are both military veterans with business backgrounds. The most notable difference between the two candidates is that Shortsleeve backs abortion rights, while Minogue does not. Both of them have supported Trump.
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