Tuesday, September 1, 2026, was the State Primary Election. It was unique in recent Lowell political history because two of the three state representative seats in Lowell were “open” (meaning the incumbents were not running) while the third district had a hotly contested race that challenged the incumbent. Here are the results from the Democratic Primary:

Sixteenth Middlesex

This district includes Centralville and Pawtucketville in Lowell and five precincts in Chelmsford. The seat is currently held by Rodney Elliott who did not seek reelection. On Tuesday, Lorena Betts of Chelmsford defeated Lowell City Councilor Corey Robinson.

Based on unofficial results (as is all of the reporting that follows), Betts received 2831 votes (70%) district wide to Robinson’s 1194 (30%). Breaking down the district, in Chelmsford, which had 46% of the votes cast in the election, Betts received 1603 (87%) to Robinson’s 251 (14%). In Lowell, which had 54% of the votes cast, Betts received 1228 (57%) to Robinson’s 943 (43%).

There will be a Republican candidate for this office – Karla Miller – on the ballot in November, so the identity of the next state representative for this district won’t be determined until then.

Seventeenth Middlesex

This district includes Belvidere, South Lowell, Downtown, small slices of the Lower Highlands and the Acre plus one precinct in Tewksbury. It was represented by Vanna Howard who resigned earlier this year when she won a special election to fill the local State Senate seat that became vacant with the passing of Ed Kennedy.

John Drinkwater, a former Lowell City Councilor, won this race and, since there was no Republican candidate on the ballot Drinkwater will almost certainly be the next representative of this district.

On Tuesday, Drinkwater received 2177 votes (59%); Harini Sankaran Aiyer received 931(25%); and Anthony Leite received 555 (15%).

In Lowell, Drinkwater received 1958 votes (60%) to Aiyer’s 817 (25%) and Leite’s 467 (14%). In Tewksbury, Drinkwater received 219 to Aiyer’s 114 and Leite’s 88. The votes from Lowell accounted for 89% of the total while Tewksbury contributed 11% of the votes.

Eighteenth Middlesex

This district includes the Highlands and the Acre. It is represented by Tara Hong who won reelection by defeating current Lowell City Councilor Sokhary Chau.

On Tuesday, Hong received 2025 votes (67%) to Chau’s 985 (33%).

Since there is no Republican nominee for this office, Hong will almost certainly be elected to another term in November.

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Because politics never sleeps, several readers have asked what implications Tuesday’s results might have in next year’s Lowell City Election since two of the losing candidates in the state primary, Corey Robinson and Sokhary Chau, are incumbent city councilors who presumably will seek reelection in 2027. Doing that analysis requires a by precinct breakdown of the Lowell vote which I didn’t have time to obtain, so I’ll look at this question in next week’s newsletter.

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The Massachusetts race that received the most attention statewide and nationally was for the U.S. Senate where incumbent Ed Markey was challenged by incumbent member of Congress Seth Moulton. Markey won handily with 573,767 votes (65%) to Moulton’s 311,036 (35%).

In Lowell, of the 8273 votes cast in that race, Markey received 5844 (70%) to Moulton’s 2370 (30%).

Although Markey has only been a US Senator since 2013, he was first elected to Congress in 1976. He’s also 80 years old. So national pundits wondered if the wave of challengers knocking off longtime incumbents in other states would continue in Massachusetts. Although Markey is old and is the incumbent, this race didn’t fit that pattern. Elsewhere, the winning challenger was decidedly more progressive than the incumbent whereas in this race, Markey was perceived (correctly, for the most part) to be more liberal than Moulton. Also, Moulton is not a fresh new face since he has served in Congress since 2015. Moulton mostly emphasized Markey’s age which may have yielded better results for the right candidate although I think Markey is well-liked and has repeatedly shown he can win tough elections having defeated Steve Lynch to win the Senate seat in 2013 and Joe Kennedy III who challenged him in 2020.

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Sticking with Congress, in the race to succeed Moulton in the 6th Congressional District, Dan Koh won in the crowded Democratic Primary field. Finishing second in that race was State Representative Tram Nguyen, who represents part of Tewksbury in the Massachusetts House. By running for Congress, Nguyen did not run for the rep seat she first won in 2018.

As for Koh, he is likely familiar to Lowell voters since he finished a close second to Lori Trahan in the 2018 Democratic Primary to succeed Niki Tsongas. However, redistricting in 2022 moved his hometown of Andover from Trahan’s 3rd District to Moulton’s 6th.

Koh will face Republican Micah Jones of Essex in the general election.

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Although national pundits focused on the Markey vs. Moulton race as a possible “new, more progressive” challenger beating “old, more moderate” incumbent, the races that better presented that potentiality where in 1st Congressional District where longtime and high-ranking Congressman Richard Neal was challenged by Jeromie Whalen, or in the 8th Congressional District were Stephen Lynch was challenged by Patrick Roath. However, both incumbents were easily reelected with Neal defeating Whalen, 54% to 46%; and Lynch defeating Roath, 56% to 44%.

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Another contested office on the Democratic ballot was for District Attorney (Northern District). However, that race was not close with incumbent Marian Ryan of Belmont winning a landslide victory over challenger David Solet of Cambridge, a former Assistant DA in the office. I don’t have the district-wide numbers yet but in Lowell, Ryan received 5953 (79%) votes to Solet’s 1576 (21%).

Since there is no Republican candidate, Ryan’s victory in the primary likely assures her another term in office.

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The other offices on the Democratic Ballot in Lowell were uncontested. These were:

Governor – Maura Healey

Lt. Governor – Kim Driscoll

Attorney General – Andrea Campbell

Secretary of State – William Galvin

State Treasurer – Deborah Goldberg

State Auditor – Diana DiZoglio

Representative in Congress – Lori Trahan

Governor’s Councillor – Eunice Delice Zeigler

State Senator – Vanna Howard

Register of Probate – Tara DeCristofaro

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Republican Primary – I’ve combined all offices here, including those that are contested.

U.S. Senator – John Deaton of Bolton

Governor – Michael Minogue of Hamilton defeated Brian Shortsleeve of Barnstable

Lt. Governor – Shawn Oliver of New Bedford.

Attorney General – Michael Walsh of Lynnfield

Secretary of State – no candidate.

Treasurer – Elizabeth Dionne of Belmont

State Auditor – no candidate.

Representative in Congress – Garry Grossi of Acton.

Governor’s Councillor – no candidate.

State Senator – Sam Meas of Lowell.

State Rep (16th Middlesex) – Karla Miller of Lowell.

State Rep (17th Middlesex) – no candidate.

State Rep (18th Middlesex) – no candidate.

District Attorney – no candidate.

Register of Probate – no candidate.

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The Massachusetts state election is on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. While the above candidates in contested races will be hard at work campaigning until then, the focus of most of us will shift to the national scene since the entire country will participate in that day’s election with control of both houses of Congress up for grabs.

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As I mentioned at the start of this newsletter, it is rare to have contested races for all three state representative seats in Lowell in the same election. For a further stroll down (political) memory lane, here are the individuals who have held those seats over the past 50 years:

16th Middlesex District (was the 17th Middlesex before 2002)

1978 – Nickolas Lambros (D) defeated Leo J. Farley Jr.

1982 – John F. Cox (D) defeated incumbent Nickolas Lambros.

1994 – Thomas Golden was elected. Incumbent John F. Cox did not seek reelection.

In 2002 redistricting, this became the 16th Middlesex District.

2022 – Rodney Elliott defeated Zoe Dzineku in the Democratic Primary and XX in the General Election. Incumbent Tom Golden was appointed Lowell City Manager on March 30, 2022, and resigned from the state legislature.

17th Middlesex District (was the 18th Middlesex before 2002)

1978 – Edward A. LeLacheur (D) was reelected.

1998 – David C. Nangle (D) was elected. Incumbent Edward A. LeLacheur did not seek reelection.

2000 – Vanna Howard (D) was elected. She defeated incumbent David Nangle and Lisa Arnold in the Democratic Primary.

18th Middlesex District (was the 19th Middlesex before 2002).

1978 – Philip L. Shea (45th Middlesex) defeated Robert B. Kennedy (46th Middlesex).

1979 – Timothy M. Rourke (D) won a special election called when incumbent Philip L. Shea was elected to the State Senate in another special election.

1982 – Susan F. Rourke (D) was elected. Incumbent Timothy M. Rourke (her spouse) died in a car accident.

1992 – Steven C. Panagiotakos (D) defeated incumbent Susan F. Rourke.

1996 – Kevin J. Murphy (D) was elected. Incumbent Steven C. Panagiotakos ran for the State Senate.

2014 – Rady Mom (D) was elected. Incumbent Kevin J. Murphy resigned after becoming Lowell City Manager.

2024 – Tara Hong (D) was elected. He defeated incumbent Rady Mom and Andrew Kollar in the Democratic primary.

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This week in my Seen & Heard column, I wrote about a recent visit to the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester to see the visiting exhibit, “Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea”; noted the obituary of former Celtic Don Nelson; commented on a NYT profile of the hosts of the “Rest is History” podcast; and reviewed the book Fire and Light: How the Enlightenment Transformed Our World by James MacGregor Burns.