Live coverage: 2020 Massachusetts primaries

by Daily Kos Elections for Daily Kos

Daily Kos Staff Emeritus

Tuesday, Sep. 01, 2020 Tuesday, Sep. 01, 2020 at 5:00:05pm PDT

WHITING, IN - MAY 03: Jim Facklam votes at the Whiting Fire Department on May 3, 2016 in Whiting, Indiana. Indiana residents are voting today to decide Republican and Democrat presidential nominees. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Primaries conclude tonight in Massachusetts, and we’re liveblogging the results below.

Resources: Key races guide | Cheat-sheet

Results: MA

Wednesday, Sep 2, 2020 · 12:02:59 AM +00:00 · Steve Singiser

If it’s Tuesday, and our beloved Ralph (see above) is gracing your screen, it must be Election Night. Tonight, all eyes are on Massachusetts, where there are actually five top-tier Democratic primaries, two of which have garnered national attention. Polls have just closed in the state, and we now eagerly anticipate the results.

Wednesday, Sep 2, 2020 · 12:17:31 AM +00:00 · Steve Singiser

Starting to see a small smattering of votes, but not enough to report on as of yet. Remember that our threshold is 5000 votes for House races, and (for tonight’s race) 45,000 votes for the Senate primary.

Wednesday, Sep 2, 2020 · 12:41:39 AM +00:00 · Steve Singiser

We’re still not to the threshold in any of the races that we are following. But the small smattering that we have in does hint at some potentially competitive races. Sit tight: this isn’t Virginia or Florida, where a huge percentage of the vote is counted in the first hour.

Wednesday, Sep 2, 2020 · 12:59:13 AM +00:00 · Steve Singiser

MA-Sen (D): Freaking FINALLY! We have hit the threshold, and can tell you that this one is awfully close. With over 50,000 votes tallied, incumbent Sen. Ed Markey has a very narrow lead over Rep. Joe Kennedy III. The lead at present is 1.6% (50.8-49.2), a raw vote margin of just over 800 votes.

Wednesday, Sep 2, 2020 · 1:00:43 AM +00:00 · Steve Singiser

MA-01 (D): We’ve also hit the threshold in this high-profile House battle in western Massachusetts. Here, incumbent Rep. Richard Neal has a more comfortable edge (60-40) over Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse.

Wednesday, Sep 2, 2020 · 1:02:20 AM +00:00 · Steve Singiser

MA-06 (D): We also have hit the threshold in this primary, where it was an open question whether Rep. Seth Moulton’s brief and highly quixotic presidential bid would hurt him back home. Thus far, the answer is: not really. Moulton has a comfortable edge (70-20) over Jamie Belisto.

Wednesday, Sep 2, 2020 · 1:04:46 AM +00:00 · Steve Singiser

MA-Sen (D): We have what feels like our seventh or eighth lead change in this high-profile Senate primary. Rep. Joe Kennedy III has now forged a slight (50.3-49.7) lead over incumbent Sen. Ed Markey. Remember, in raw votes we’re only talking about 319 votes. So this one is incredibly close.

Wednesday, Sep 2, 2020 · 1:07:23 AM +00:00 · Steve Singiser

MA-Sen (D): Aaaaand just like that another 16,000 votes get added, and Sen. Ed Markey pulls back into the lead. What’s more: it is the first really substantial lead of the night. Markey leads 52-48, a raw vote edge of 3300 votes.

Wednesday, Sep 2, 2020 · 1:09:03 AM +00:00 · Steve Singiser

MA-04 (D): We finally hit the threshold here, and what we thought might be the closest race of the night is not disappointing. Jake Auchincloss has, with about 9000 votes counted, a six-vote lead over Jesse Mermell.

Wednesday, Sep 2, 2020 · 1:13:48 AM +00:00 · Steve Singiser

MA-Sen (D): On the strength of what looks like a massive edge in Somerville (think a 4-to-1 ratio), Sen. Ed Markey is out to the biggest lead of the night for either candidate (58-42).

Wednesday, Sep 2, 2020 · 1:30:57 AM +00:00 · Steve Singiser

MA-01 (D): We’re now well into the vote counting here (27% of precincts tallied, for what that is worth), and the general trajectory of this race has not changed. Rep. Richard Neal still holds a 59-41 lead over Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse. However, it’s worth noting that only about ¼ of the precincts in Holyoke have reported thus far.

Wednesday, Sep 2, 2020 · 1:32:41 AM +00:00 · Steve Singiser

MA-04 (D): We’ve had a big bump of votes in this district (which became an open seat when JKIII ran for the US Senate). And progressive Jesse Mermell has moved into a narrow lead (29-27) over Jake Auchincloss, who returned to the Democratic party after a brief sojourn in the GOP that saw him work on the 2014 campaign of Republican Charlie Baker.

Wednesday, Sep 2, 2020 · 1:36:40 AM +00:00 · Steve Singiser

MA-08 (D): It took 90 minutes, but we finally hit the threshold in this district, where the most conservative member of the Massachusetts delegation, veteran Rep. Stephen Lynch, is well ahead of challenger Robbie Goldstein (73-27).

Wednesday, Sep 2, 2020 · 1:38:21 AM +00:00 · Jeff Singer

The liveblog continues here.