Edward Markey

5:26 pm ET

Voter: 'I don't want people who are 80'

Sue Scheible and James Powel

Kathleen Brown told The Patriot Ledger, a part of the USA TODAY Network, she voted for Rep. Seth Moulton due to concerns over the ages of elected officials.

"I don’t want people who are 80 and who will be 86 in office to be in office. They are too old for leadership positions," the 53-year-old retired data analyst said after voting at the Tirrell Room in Quincy.

Moulton has made age a central attack line against incumbent Sen. Ed Markey in the Democratic primary in a season that has seen older incumbents knocked out of long-held seats by younger challengers.

John and Lenore Grazioso, both 86, also voted at the Tirrell Room, an event hall about 10 miles southeast of Boston.

They said they vote mainly because they always have and feel strongly it is their civic duty. They are trying to convince others to also keep voting, too.

5:12 pm ET

Trump administration sent election monitors to MA

Margie Cullen

The U.S. Justice Department is monitoring polls in Boston, Lowell and New Bedford, Massachusetts, the Civil Rights Division announced Sept. 1.

According to a press release, the DOJ sent 12 monitors to polls in those three cities.

“Monitoring is an essential duty for the Civil Rights Division during election season,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “Nonpartisan, nondiscriminatory monitoring efforts promote transparency, accountability, and most importantly trust in our federal elections.”

This primary season so far, the department has deployed over 80 monitors to 200 polling locations across eight states, including Arizona, Michigan and Minnesota, and is planning on sending monitors to New Hampshire and Virginia, according to a post Dhillon made in July.

In that post, Dhillon said election monitors were being sent “to places where there have been problems with the integrity of elections.” Dhillon did not get into specific instances of “problems” for any of the jurisdictions.

While there were complaints made during the March 5 Super Tuesday presidential primary election in New Bedford in 2024, an investigation found the problems to be minor and had no effect on results.

It isn’t so unusual to have election monitors at the polls: according to the MA Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office, it’s typical for the DOJ to send monitors to cities and towns with language requirements under the Voting Rights Act.

However, New Bedford has no such requirements.

5:00 pm ET

Who might replace Seth Moulton in MA 6th District?

Margie Cullen

Six Democrats are on the ballot for the Massachusetts 6th Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., who is running for U.S. Senate. This district encompasses the Northeast part of the state.

Among the candidates are former White House official Dan Koh, 41, and state Rep. Tram Nguyen, 40.

Koh has received endorsements from former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris and former Boston mayor Marty Walsh.

Nguyen has received endorsements from U.S. Democratic Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Lori Trahan, MA Attorney General Andrea Campbell and the Boston Globe.

UMass Boston political science professor Erin O’Brien said that Koh has been tagged with “the more moderate DC swagger, DC insider,” while Nguyen and others have been seen as “progressive, not as connected, grassroots.”

The outcome of the race, she said, will signal what “flavor of Democrat” voters are looking for.

“I don't know if the frame's completely fair, but the frame that's been put on this race is more moderate, DC connections, more of an outsider, which one of those will make a difference?” O’Brien said. “It's one data point on what direction is the Democratic Party going.”

The other candidates include software engineer Bethany Andres-Beck, 42, businessman John Beccia, 56, and Topsfield Town Moderator Jamie Belsito, 52. Former federal worker Mariah Lancaster, 36, ended her campaign on Aug. 30 and endorsed Nguyen. There has been limited polling in the race.

A solid blue district, the winner of the primary is expected to win the general election.

4:45 pm ET

What to know in MA governor race

Margie Cullen

Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is uncontested in the Democratic primary. But she will face a general election challenge from one of two Republicans vying for the nomination.

The candidates in the Republican primary are Michael Minogue, former CEO of a medical device company, and Brian Shortsleeve, former MBTA chief administrator. The two are fairly similar: they are both military veterans turned businessmen who support cutting taxes and immigration enforcement.

However, Minogue does not support abortion rights, while Shortsleeve does. Minogue also leads handily in fundraising, with $8.1 million on hand compared to Shortsleeve's about $527,000 according to the latest campaign finance reports.

4:32 pm ET

Has Trump endorsed any candidates in Massachusetts?

Margie Cullen

President Donald Trump has stayed out of the Massachusetts races, not endorsing any candidates this cycle.

In the past, he has. In 2022, he endorsed former Massachusetts state Rep. Geoff Diehl, R-Whitman, in his 2022 run for governor. Diehl won the primary but lost the election to Gov. Maura Healey.

So far this election cycle, Trump has a near-perfect record when it comes to endorsing winning Republican primary candidates: a 96% success rate in GOP contests across congressional, state legislative and statewide elections so far in 2026, according to a review of Trump’s picks by Ballotpedia.

4:16 pm ET

Challengers stress generational change in contested primaries for US House

Margie Cullen

All of Massachusetts nine House seats are considered safe Democratic seats. But the current representatives face more primary challenges than usual this year, with many revolving around generational change.

Here are the contested Democratic primaries:

1st Congressional District: Incumbent Richard Neal, 77, vs. Jeromie Whalen, 39, a teacher. This district covers the western and some central parts of the state, including the city of Springfield.

4th Congressional District: Incumbent Jake Auchincloss, 38, vs. Jason Poulos, 40, an AI researcher. This district goes from communities right outside Boston, like Newton and Brookline, down to the Rhode Island border and Fall River.

5th Congressional District: Incumbent House minority whip Katherine Clark, 63, vs. Tarik Samman, a 27-year-old union organizer and Harvard Law School researcher, and Jonathan Paz, a 33-year-old former Waltham city councilor and immigrant rights organizer. This district includes suburbs north and west of Boston, including parts of Cambridge.

6th Congressional District: Six Democrats are vying for the seat vacated by Rep. Seth Moulton, who is running for Senate. They are software engineer Bethany Andres-Beck, 42, businessman John Beccia, 56, Topsfield Town Moderator Jamie Belsito, 52, former White House official Dan Koh, 41, former federal worker Mariah Lancaster, 36, and state Rep. Tram Nguyen, D-Andover, 40. This district encompasses the Northeast part of the state.

8th Congressional District: Incumbent Stephen Lynch, 71, vs. Patrick Roath, a 39-year-old lawyer and former aide to former Gov. Deval Patrick. This district includes parts of Boston, its suburbs and southeast Massachusetts.