INCUMBENT SOMERVILLE Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven, one of the most progressive lawmakers on Beacon Hill, brushed aside a primary challenge from a former State House aide who promised to pursue the same policies but in a less aggressive way that she said would deliver more for the district.
According to Associated Press estimates, Uyterhoeven won the Democratic primary race over Kathleen Hornby by a margin of 68.9 to 31.1 percent. The victory, by a seven-point margin larger than she received in her initial run for an open seat in 2020, assures Uyterhoeven another two-year term since no Republican is expected to challenge her in the liberal district.
Hornby portrayed herself as a progressive familiar with the ways of Beacon Hill — she was most recently an aide to Rep. Marjorie Decker of Cambridge, who appeared to lose to a challenger from her left last night — who promised to deliver more resources for her district. Hornby criticized Uyterhoeven for her aggressive stances, which she said netted few tangible benefits for Somerville. The Somerville Democratic City Committee overwhelming endorsed Hornby.
“It’s not about alienating leadership. It’s about working with the body to pursue change,” Hornby said in an interview prior to the election. “It’s about building trust and respect as much as it is about ideals.”
But Somerville Democratic voters stood by their bold progressive, a democratic socialist who favors making the MBTA free and aggressively pushes for greater transparency on Beacon Hill. In a telephone interview, Uyterhoeven said the Somerville Democratic City Committee was not representative of the community at large.
“That was more a reflection of insider politics,” she said, noting many of the committee members were core Hornsby supporters. Hornby blamed her defeat on “incumbency bias” and suggested that Uyterhoeven “benefitted from all the privileges that come with being an established candidate.”
As Decker’s apparent defeat showed, incumbency was no guarantee of victory. In the House, incumbent Democrat Rady Mom of Lowell was defeated by challenger Tara Hong by a margin of 47 to 42 percent. On the Governor’s Council, challenger Maura Dolan held a narrow lead over incumbent Marilyn Delaney in a rematch of their election fight two years ago. Dolan ran a relentless endorsement campaign that attempted to show Delaney had no support among the state’s political elite; she led by a 52 to 48 percent margin with 76 percent of the vote counted at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Another closely watched contest, the race for the obscure job of clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County, ended with public defender Allison Cartwright declaring victory over Boston City Councilor Erin Murphy, who did not concede defeat.
In most of Tuesday’s primary races incumbency was a decisive advantage. Only 26 of 160 House districts and six of 40 Senate districts saw a contested primary.
In the Senate, incumbent Democratic Sens. Adam Gomez of Springfield, Mark Montigny of New Bedford, and Nicholas Collins of Boston fended off primary challengers. Rep. William Driscoll of Milton won his primary for the Senate seat being vacated by Walter Timilty and Joseph Pacheco won his primary battle against Barry Sanders for the seat being vacated by Marc Pacheco (no relation to Joseph). Rep. Dylan Fernandez will square off against Rep. Kari MacRae for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Susan Moran.
On the House side, incumbent Reps. Bud Williams of Springfield, Paul Donato of Medford, Russell Holmes of Boston, Jack Lewis of Framingham, Jay Livingstone of Boston, Rita Mendes of Brockton, Thomas Stanley of Waltham, and Joseph McGonagle of Everett all appeared headed for victory.
In Democratic primary races for open seats in the House, Richard Wells of Milton was leading in his bid to succeed Rep. William Driscoll; medical doctor Greg Swartz of Newton was leading in the race to succeed Rep. Ruth Balser; Sean Reid of Lynn, the legislative director for Sen. Brendan Crighton, won his race to succeed retiring Rep. Peter Capano; Amy Mah Sangiolo won the race to succeed Rep. Kay Kahn; and Leigh Davis of Great Barrington declared victory in the race to succeed outgoing Rep. Smitty Pignatelli of Lenox.
No Democrat in the Massachusetts congressional delegation faced a challenger in the primary. On the Republican side, John Deaton of Swansea, a former US Marine and cryptocurrency lawyer, was declared the victor in the Republican primary for US Senate and will face off against heavily favored incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Warren in November.
Deaton had 64.4 percent of the Republican primary vote, Robert Antonellis of Somerville had 26.5 percent, and Quincy City Council President Ian Cain came in a distant third at 9.1 percent.
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