Massachusetts 2010 Election Results

Massachusetts held its general election on November 2, 2010, deciding 200 legislative seats and 6 statewide offices led by the governorship. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Democrats kept the governorship, every statewide office, and two-thirds majorities in both chambers, a Democratic rout that set Massachusetts apart from the rest of the nation. The one dent came in the House, where Republicans doubled the size of their caucus.
• Deval Patrick (D) overcame a devastating recession and high unemployment to win a second term, beating Charlie Baker (R) by about 6 points. Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill (I) finished third after his candidacy collapsed once the Republican Governors Association targeted him. Baker's running mate, Senate Minority Leader Richard R. Tisei (R), had given up his Senate seat to join the ticket.
• Republicans cut the Democratic House majority from 143-16-1 (Democrats, Republicans, then an independent) to 128-31. One seat stayed unresolved: in 6th Worcester, Rep. Geraldo Alicea (D) and Peter Durant (R) tied at 6,587 votes, a judge ordered a new election, and Durant won the May 10, 2011 rerun by about 55 votes. Republicans also knocked off several incumbents, three of them by 100 votes or fewer:
  • Shaunna O'Connell (R) beat Rep. James H. Fagan (D) by 31 votes in 3rd Bristol.
  • Nick Boldyga (R) unseated Rep. Rosemary Sandlin (D) by 98 votes in a three-way race in 3rd Hampden.
  • Steven L. Levy (R) beat Rep. Danielle Gregoire (D) by 100 votes in 4th Middlesex.
• Democrats gained one Senate seat, moving the chamber from 35-5 to 36-4: Katherine M. Clark (D) was elected to Tisei's open Middlesex and Essex seat over Craig Spadafora (R) by about 5 points. A post-election WBUR roundup said the GOP was washed out in its bid to pick up any Senate, congressional, or statewide seat.
• Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) and Secretary of State William F. Galvin (D) won easily, and Democrats also held both open offices: Steve Grossman (D) defeated Rep. Karyn Polito (R) for the treasurer's office Cahill gave up by about 10 points, and Suzanne Bump (D) narrowly beat Mary Zarrilli Connaughton (R) for auditor by about 46,000 votes.
• Apart from Tisei's open Senate seat, every seat that changed hands was a Democratic House seat won by Republicans, and every incumbent who lost in November was a Democrat. On the ballot, voters repealed the sales tax on alcohol with Question 1, kept the affordable-housing permit law by rejecting Question 2, and defeated a sales tax cut with Question 3.

Legislature

• House (160 seats): 144 D, 16 R before the election, 128 D, 32 R after; control stayed with Democrats.
• Senate (40 seats): 34 D, 5 R, 1 other or vacant before the election, 36 D, 4 R after; control stayed with Democrats.

Statewide races

Legislative races

Ballot measures