It was a busy primary eleciton day in Massachusetts, with several races at both the state and federal levels going before voters. In the 1st Congressional District, longtime Springfield Congressman Richard Neal won the Democratic primary, and will head back to Washington.
Neal drew about 70 percentof the vote over Springfield attorney Tahirah Amatul-Wadud. Neal ran largely on his record, while Amatul-Wadud made campaign fundraising and health care some of her main issues.
Therace for Massachusetts Governor is set. Republican incumbent Charlie Baker defeated Scott Lively, while Jay Gonzalez moved on to November after beating Bob Massie. Baker remains popular and has a lot of money compared to Gonzalez, but the challenger is running as a Democrat in a very blue state.
Locally, several legislative races were settled on Tuesday. One race getting a lot of attention was the Democratic primary to replace former state Senator Stan Rosenberg of Amherst. Jo Comerford won as a write-in with 54 percent of the vote. And she will be just one of several new faces from western Mass. going to Beacon Hill next year.
In Berkshire County, Andrea Harrington nosed out Paul Caccaviello in the Democratic primary for district attorney. Caccaviello was appointed to the job in March after David Capeless retired in March. At the time, Capeless said he was stepping aside to give his then-assistant a chance to run as the incumbent.
Guests:
- Mass Szafranski, editor, Western Mass. Politics & Insight
- Mike Dobbs, managing editor, Reminder Newspapers
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