Most Massachusetts Voters Say They’re Still Undecided 

BOSTON — Maybe we’re just getting jaded at the end of a long primary season, or maybe, like the hardy, mostly blue voters in the Bay State, we’re already looking forward to the start of the baseball playoffs and the NFL season.

Whatever it is, the Sept. 6 primary election in Massachusetts just hasn’t fired many imaginations — and that with five major statewide races being contested: governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state and state auditor.

Perhaps the biggest question on anyone’s mind right now is who will replace outgoing Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, who is sitting out this race and appears content to simply serve out the remainder of his second term.

Attorney General Maura Healey is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination, her last competitor, state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, having dropped out of the race in June.

Born in Maryland and once a member of the Harvard women’s basketball team, Healey would be the first woman elected governor in the state’s history.

She is widely expected to face former state Representative and long-time Republican activist Geoff Diehl when the GOP primary dust settles Tuesday night, but the race could prove an unexpected toss-up.

The polls have Diehl up 42% to businessman Chris Doughty’s 27%, but 31% of likely voters in the contest told pollsters this past week they don’t know who they will support.

In other statewide races, several Democratic primary candidates are stuck below 10% with several of the races showing nearly two out of three voters in those contests undecided.

So far, only incumbent Secretary of State Bill Galvin appears as the clear frontrunner in his race, with a majority of support among Democratic primary voters. Galvin currently appears to have the support of 55% of likely voters, while his opponent, NAACP Boston Chapter Head Tanisha Sullivan, is at 14%. 

For lieutenant governor, Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll leads her race with 13%; for attorney general, former Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell leads at 25%; and for auditor, transportation activist Chris Dempsey leads at 15%.

The other Democratic candidates in the lieutenant governor race are state Rep. Tami Gouveia, and state Sen. Eric Lesser. In the Republican primary, former state Reps. Kate Campanale and Leah Cole Allen are going head to head.

In addition to Campbell, the Democrats running for attorney general are labor lawyer Shannon Liss-Riordan and former White House advisor Quentin Palfrey. Running unopposed on the GOP side of the ledger is attorney Jay McMahon.

Finally, for state auditor, Dempsey is facing state Sen. Diana DiZoglio in the Democratic primary, while Anthony Amore, security director at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, is running unopposed in the Republican primary.

“It seems clear that many of the statewide candidate primaries are just not getting as much attention from primary voters as you would think,” said Paul Diego Craney, spokesperson for the Fiscal Alliance Foundation, in a written statement. 

“With nearly two out of three Democratic primary votes still undecided in several races, anything is possible,” he said.

As for the congressional district races, all but two already appear to be headed to November. 

In the 1st Congressional District, incumbent Democrat Rep. Richard Neal will face Republican Dean James Martilli.

In the 2nd Congressional District, incumbent Democrat Rep. James P. McGovern will face Republican Jeffrey A. Sossa-Paquette.

In the 3rd Congressional District, Democrat Rep. Lori Loureiro Trahan will square off against former Republican state Sen. Dean A. Tran.

In the 4th Congressional District, Democratic Rep. Jake Auchincloss is running unopposed.

In the 5th Congressional District, incumbent Democrat Rep. Katherine Clark is running against Republican Caroline Colarusso.

In the 6th Congressional District, incumbent Democrat Rep. Seth Moulton will face Republican mechanical engineer Bob May.

In the 7th Congressional District, incumbent Democrat Rep. Ayanna Pressley will face Republican Donnie Palmer. 

In the 8th Congressional District, two Republicans, Robert Burke and Hamilton Soares Rodrigues, are vying on Tuesday for the chance to unseat incumbent Democrat Rep. Stephen Lynch.

In the 9th Congressional District, two Republicans, Jesse Brown and Dan Sullivan, are vying for the chance to face incumbent Democratic Rep. Bill Keating.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue