Tuesday marks the penultimate primary election night in the 2022 midterm cycle as voters in Massachusetts cast their votes to settle each party's field and finalize the showdown that will be November's general election.
Unlike many of the other primaries that have already taken place this cycle, Massachusetts elections are tallied and reported by the individual cities and towns rather than at a larger jurisdiction or the statewide level.
While the live results below will be updated throughout the evening, Massachusetts' unstandardized means of reporting vote totals means that some areas won't report or even start counting ballots on the day of the primary with final totals trickling in later this week after the bulk of returns are in on Tuesday night.
Here's what Townhall is watching as the numbers come in after polls close at 8:00 p.m. ET:
GOVERNOR'S RACE —
Running for governor on the Republican side are Geoff Diehl, a former state representative endorsed by former President Donald Trump, and Chris Doughty, a self-funded running as a moderate Republican.
Over the long Labor Day weekend, Trump hosted a tele-rally with Diehl as one final push before the primary. "I need to get every person in Massachusetts that’s voting, that’s allowed to vote — of course nowadays you don’t have to be allowed to vote you just go do whatever you want to do and we’ll end that," Trump quipped. "But everybody needs to go and vote for a really incredible champion for your rights and your values and your jobs — the next governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Geoff Diehl," he added.
Across the aisle, MA Attorney General Maura Healey is expected to cruise to victory on Tuesday night after her opponent almost entirely stopped campaigning.
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES —
At the federal level, two U.S. house races have contested GOP primaries in the Commonwealth's delegation. In the 8th Congressional District — which is rated at D +10 — Robert Burke is facing off against Hamilton Rodrigues for the chance to challenge incumbent Democrat Rep. Stephen Lynch. In the 9th Congressional District, Dan Sullivan is running against Jesse Brown to challenge Democrat incumbent Rep. Bill Keating in the D +4 district this November.
According to the Massachusetts Secretary of State, more 400,000 ballots were already cast by mail leading up to Tuesday's primary election due in part to the Commonwealth's use of no-excuse early voting.
After polls opened on Tuesday, at least one issue arose in Barnstable where election officials were unable to open the vault used to securely store ballots on election day. As a result, the polls there will be held open until midnight.