Massachusetts 2024 Election Results

Massachusetts held its general election on November 5, 2024, deciding 200 legislative seats. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Democrats' lock on Beacon Hill did not move, but Republicans gained one Senate seat and lost no incumbents, and the parties swapped two House seats each way, leaving the Senate 35-5 and the House exactly where it started at 134-25 with one independent.
• The Senate pickup came on the South Coast, in the 3rd Bristol and Plymouth district, where retiring Sen. Marc Pacheco (D) had held the seat for more than three decades. Kelly Dooner (R) beat Joseph Pacheco (D), no relation to the senator, and becomes the first Republican woman elected to the Massachusetts Senate in two decades.
• In the House, each party took two seats from the other:
  • Justin Thurber (R) unseated 12-term Rep. Patricia Haddad (D), a former speaker pro tempore, in the 5th Bristol by about four points; Haddad was the only incumbent to lose in either chamber.
  • Ken Sweezey (R) took the open 6th Plymouth seat Josh Cutler (D) vacated in February.
  • Democrats answered in two open Republican seats: Michelle Badger (D) won the 1st Plymouth and Dennis Gallagher (D) edged Sandra Wright (R) in the 8th Plymouth by about one point; Wright sought a recount in the town of Raynham.
• Three of the five ballot questions passed: Question 1 lets the state auditor audit the Legislature (about 72 percent yes), Question 2 drops the MCAS statewide standardized test as a high school graduation requirement, and Question 3 lets rideshare drivers unionize, a result that was not called until the following day. Voters rejected Question 4 on legalizing natural psychedelics and Question 5 on raising the tipped minimum wage, which lost by nearly two to one.
• Across the 200 legislative races, 5 seats changed parties, 1 incumbent was defeated, 2 more races finished inside two points (the closest, the open 1st Bristol, which Michael Chaisson (R) held for his party by 88 votes), and 144 seats drew a single candidate, an unopposed share second only to Wyoming's.

Legislature

• House (160 seats): 133 D, 26 R, 1 other or vacant before the election, 133 D, 25 R, 2 other or vacant after; control stayed with Democrats.
• Senate (40 seats): 37 D, 3 R before the election, 35 D, 5 R after; control stayed with Democrats.

Legislative races

Ballot measures