The Landscape 

It all ends tomorrow. But will we know how? There’s a good chance we won’t.

Thankfully, here in Massachusetts, Election Day should be a bit more stable. All 200 Massachusetts legislative seats are on the ballot tomorrow but only 50 of them feature contested general elections. Of the 160-seat state House of Representatives, only 34 members face an opponent and eight districts are filling seats from retiring members. The state Senate has eight contested general elections in the 40-member chamber.

Democrats have held a supermajority in both Massachusetts legislative branches for three decades. In the House, Democrats hold 127 seats, compared to 31 for Republicans and one Independent. Democrats have an even larger advantage in the Senate with all but four seats.

Tomorrow’s state races to watch include: In the Senate, Needham state Senator Becca Rausch and challenger Matthew Kelly a Franklin Town Councilor, Weymouth state Sen. Patrick O’Connor versus Democratic challenger Meg Wheeler of Cohasset and Democrat John Cronin of Holden is trying to unseat state Senator Dean Tran of Leominster, who battled his own negative press this year. In the House, Andover Democrat Rep. Tram Nguyen is facing  challenger Jeff Dufour, a Tewksbury Republican – and that campaign has turned bitter in the last week with a race-baiting robocall.

Another one to watch is how the state holds up with its first general election vote by mail effort. A huge percentage of the state voted early and by mail. Secretary of State Bill Galvin and local clerks are hoping to avoid some of the errors that led to a longer count in the Fourth District primary in September and, whatever happens, it’ll set the table for whether mail-in voting expands even after the pandemic passes.

The News

SILVER LINING: The campaign calls, texts and commercials *should* be over Wednesday.