Massachusetts 2022 Election Results

Massachusetts held its general election on November 8, 2022, deciding 200 legislative seats and 6 statewide offices led by the governorship. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Democrats won the governor's office Republican Charlie Baker had held, restoring full one-party control of state government, while voters approved a constitutional surtax on incomes above $1 million.
• Attorney General Maura Healey (D) beat former state Rep. Geoff Diehl (R) by nearly 30 points to succeed Baker, who declined to seek a third term. Healey became the state's first elected woman governor and the nation's first openly lesbian governor, and with Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll (D) as lieutenant governor, the pair formed what WBUR called the nation's first all-women tandem in the two offices. Diehl, endorsed by former President Trump, struggled to win over the moderates Massachusetts Republicans have historically relied on.
• The legislature's closest fights were settled after Election Day, including the only defeat of a sitting legislator. In the 2nd Essex District, five-term Rep. Lenny Mirra (R) led on election night, but a recount flipped the race to Kristin Kassner (D) by a single vote. In the 1st Middlesex, Margaret Scarsdale (D) held on through a recount to beat Andrew Shepherd (R) by seven votes. Both Republicans went to court. A judge left Mirra's challenge to the House, and a special House committee upheld both Democrats. Mirra kept the seat until Kassner was sworn in in February 2023.
• Democrats won every statewide office. Andrea Campbell (D) beat James R. McMahon III (R) for the attorney general's office Healey vacated, becoming the first Black woman elected to that office. Diana DiZoglio (D) won the open auditor's office, and Secretary of State William F. Galvin (D) and Treasurer Deborah Goldberg (D) were reelected.
• The Senate's Democratic supermajority came back unchanged, while Republicans lost a handful of House seats. Beyond the two recount races, the only other legislative contest inside two points was the open 9th Norfolk seat, which Marcus Vaughn (R) won narrowly. In all, 124 of the 200 legislative seats had only one candidate on the ballot.
• Voters approved 3 of 4 statewide questions.
  • Question 1 amends the constitution to add a 4% surtax on income above $1 million, earmarked for education and transportation. The Fair Share Massachusetts campaign, backed largely by teachers' unions, outraised opponents roughly two to one.
  • Question 2 requires dental insurance plans to spend at least 83% of premiums on patient care (a minimum medical loss ratio) and passed easily.
  • Question 3, a rewrite of alcohol license caps backed by package stores (independent liquor stores), failed, a win for chain liquor retailers.
  • Question 4 upheld a state law letting residents who cannot prove lawful presence obtain a driver's license, which the legislature passed over Baker's veto.

Legislature

• House (160 seats): 129 D, 30 R, 1 other or vacant before the election, 133 D, 26 R, 1 other or vacant after; control stayed with Democrats.
• Senate (40 seats): 37 D, 3 R before the election, 37 D, 3 R after; control stayed with Democrats.

Statewide races

Legislative races

Ballot measures