As It Happened: Results Roll In From the 2026 Massachusetts State Primary

Updated September 3, 2026, at 6:31 p.m.

Incumbent state Representative Marjorie C. Decker held on to her seat in the Democratic primary to represent much of Cambridge in the State House, beating back a fierce challenge from progressive labor organizer Evan C. MacKay ’19 after the Associated Press called the race Wednesday morning.

The AP called the race in Decker’s favor just after 11 a.m. Wednesday, with Decker holding 4,104 votes, to MacKay’s 3,599. Decker maintained a 505-vote lead over MacKay, and, despite some auxiliary ballots still uncounted in the city, MacKay conceded the race.

Incumbent state Senator William N. Brownsberger ’78 and Daniel A. Lander ’14 were neck-and-neck by the time 99 percent of votes had been counted just after 2 a.m. Wednesday.

Brownsberger narrowly held a 61-vote lead, raising the possibility of a recount in the first contested primary of his 14-year tenure. Though the Associated Press did not formally call the race, Brownsberger had 11,997 votes, compared to Lander’s 11,936.

Incumbent state Representative Marjorie C. Decker held a 505-vote lead over progressive labor organizer Evan C. MacKay ’19 as of 2:15 a.m., according to an unofficial vote count released by the Cambridge Election Commission.

The unofficial tally showed Decker with 4,104 votes to MacKay’s 3,599, with nine write-ins.

The two candidates hosted watch parties in Central Square, both of which drew to a close around midnight without a result. The Election Commission received ballots from the final Cambridge precinct shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday and released an unofficial count just over an hour later.

By midnight on primary election night, almost every race for offices representing Cambridge had been called — except for two.

Campaign watch parties for state Representative Marjorie C. Decker, her challenger Evan C. MacKay ’19, state Senator William N. Brownsberger ’78, and his challenger Daniel A. Lander ’14 each ended without a winner declared.

Decker’s watch party came to a close shortly before midnight, with the incumbent and her campaign team leaving The Phoenix Landing with the race still uncertain, citing a lack of further updates.

The race between state Representative Marjorie C. Decker and Evan C. MacKay ’19 remained unresolved past midnight Tuesday, more than three hours after the last reported vote tally.

The Associated Press last updated the vote tally for the race at 8:51 p.m., showing MacKay pulling slightly ahead with a 41-vote lead. But as the hours ticked by with no formal update, Decker hinted at a hundred-vote lead based on unofficial results.

In a speech at their watch party, MacKay said that initial numbers were not looking good for them, but that the campaign will wait for a complete count before sharing more information. In an interview with The Crimson, MacKay added that their campaign has had no communication with Decker’s and that a recount is possible, but it’s too early to tell.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu ’07 expressed confidence in challenger Daniel A. Lander’s ’14 chances in remarks at his watch party around 11:05 p.m., though she stopped short of declaring his victory.

Citing Lander’s 20 point lead in Boston ballots, Wu rallied an already-excited crowd in the Peka Restaurant bar. In his own remarks, Lander called on supporters to continue their efforts into the next day.

“While I wish tonight we were ready to say we had a decision — it is so so close,” Lander said. “We have a lot more work to do, and I am feeling energized. I am feeling excited, and I know we can win this race.”

Marian T. Ryan, the 13-year incumbent Middlesex District Attorney, is on the path to reelection after primary challenger David Solet conceded just before 11 p.m. Tuesday night.

Solet, the former head of the DA’s Cold Case Division, resigned from the position to challenge his former boss for the helm of the department. Solet was Ryan’s first challenger since 2018.

Solet declared defeat before official results from the Associated Press rolled in, writing in a statement that he was proud of the campaign despite the ultimate loss.

Just over an hour after claiming he was likely to lose, state Senator William N. Brownsberger ’78 expressed newfound confidence at his campaign watch party as updated results showed him with a 1,705-vote lead at 11:16 p.m.

Brownsberger attributed the sudden shift to an influx of votes from Belmont, where he got his political start. Belmont had initially reported only in-person Election Day votes before updating its count to include early votes, he said at his watch party.

“We’re actually up by a fucking thousand right now,” Brownsberger said.

Former Biden administration official Daniel A. Koh ’07 won the Democratic nomination to represent Massachusetts’ Sixth Congressional District, succeeding Representative Seth W. Moulton ’01 (D-Mass.).

As of 10:46 p.m., Koh had received roughly 42 percent of the votes, with roughly 65 percent of votes counted. Koh, who was endorsed by former U.S. President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, beat out five other candidates to secure the party’s nomination. He will face Republican Micah Q. Jones in the November general election.

The Crimson is tracking the results live.

Incumbent state Representative David M. Rogers will return to Beacon Hill, besting Nomita Ganguly in his first primary challenge since 2020.

Rogers, who represents the 24th Middlesex District, including parts of Belmont and Arlington, faced Ganguly, a legislative transparency advocate. As of 10:40 p.m., Rogers had secured roughly 70 percent of the vote, with nearly 88 percent of ballots counted.

The Crimson is tracking the results live.

State Senator William N. Brownsberger ’78 acknowledged at his watch party that he is likely to lose his primary to challenger Daniel A. Lander ’14.

“Update: not looking too good tonight,” Brownsberger said after entering the room and greeting the 50 volunteers and supporters gathered at Donohue’s Bar and Grill in Watertown.

Brownsberger acknowledged that results were not finalized, but said “we might lose” based on Lander’s 12-point lead at the time of his remarks, when 11 percent of votes had been reported. By around 10:30 p.m., however, the race had reversed, with Brownsberger leading Lander 56 percent to 44 percent with 59 percent of votes reported.

Cambridge Vice Mayor Burhan Azeem officially conceded the race for the 2nd Middlesex District seat, he confirmed in an interview with The Crimson at 10:02 p.m.

“The numbers aren’t official but we are now past the point that we can’t win,” he told a gathered crowd of around 33 supporters, including canvassers. Azeem personally thanked those who had come out to support his campaign.

Azeem said he had called Erika Uyterhoeven shortly before and told her that “she was probably going to be a winner,” wishing her good luck for the rest of the race. As of 10 p.m., Uyterhoeven had secured 38 percent of the vote. State Representative Christine P. Barber had secured 31 percent, with 73 percent of the votes counted, according to the Associated Press. The Crimson is tracking the results live.

Around an hour and a half into his watch party, Cambridge Vice Mayor Burhan Azeem announced to dozens of supporters that the outlook for his race for 2nd Middlesex District was bleak.

He told the assembled crowd, which included City Manager Yi-An Huang ’05, that around “75% of Cambridge” would have to turn out in order for his bid to prevail. He estimated that he would finish in second place.

In an interview with The Crimson, Azeem said that he was not officially conceding, but that he was offering those gathered his assessment of how the race would likely end. He added that the campaign would not officially concede until the official vote came in.

Incumbent U.S. Representative Katherine M. Clark (D-Mass), the current Democratic Whip, won the Democratic nomination for House in her first contested race since 2014.

Clark faced off against challengers Tarik Samman, a 27-year-old Harvard Law School researcher, and Jonathan Paz, a former Waltham city councilor for the Fifth Congressional District, which covers most of West Cambridge and Harvard Square. Clark secured 75 percent of the vote.

As incumbent state Representative Marjorie C. Decker’s campaign watch party kicked off Tuesday evening, her campaign manager began soliciting the required number of signatures needed to initiate a recount — an early sign of uncertainty for the incumbent.

Juliana O’Neil made the first speech of the night shortly before 9:15 p.m., announcing to more than 50 Decker supporters at The Phoenix Landing in Central Square that early results showed the race was “very, very close,” while adding that Decker had taken an early lead against her challenger, Evan C. MacKay ’19.

The announcement of Decker’s 103-vote lead was met with a roar of applause by the crowd, but was followed by an appeal for recount votes. O’Neil and another campaign volunteer began passing around recount forms to the audience — a move O’Neil said was taken out of precaution.

As of 8 p.m., polling sites for the 2026 primary election are closed and ballots are being counted — concluding a 13-hour voting period that saw waves of voters cast their ballots.

The Cambridge Election Commission is slated to release preliminary results late Tuesday evening, with counts formalized by Wednesday afternoon.

Candidates traveled across the city on Tuesday vying to win over last-minute voters and hoping to avoid a disappointing finish. The push was especially intense across Cambridge, where six of the nine Beacon Hill races that overlap with the city are contested.

Before polls closed in Cambridge, incumbent state Sen. William N. Brownsberger ’78 said he is optimistic about his chances at winning an eighth term after visiting polling sites across his district on Tuesday.

“I feel pretty good, but it’s not over until it’s over,” he said in an interview with The Crimson at a Cambridge polling site.

Brownsberger, who has been unopposed since 2012, said campaigning “can be challenging at times.”

The Harvard College Democrats are organizing behind Evan C. MacKay ’19 in their challenge for the state legislature, with students from the group assisting in last-minute voter mobilization efforts in the final two hours before polls close.

HCD has long been a supporter of MacKay’s State House aspirations, endorsing both of their campaigns against Decker and encouraging students to cast their vote for the recent College alum.

Alfredo Hernandez ’28, co-president of HCD, said the group’s members are helping MacKay with a “final get out to vote effort,” including some students joining MacKay’s team for their last phone bank before polls close.

About 14,000 Cambridge voters had cast ballots in the state primary election by 3:30 p.m. — 20 percent of the city’s 70,250 registered voters, according to the Cambridge Election Commission.

With just hours until polls close, the city’s Election Day turnout is on track to surpass the last two primary elections. In 2024, 15,619 ballots were cast on Election Day, about 500 more than in 2022.

Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin forecasted higher turnouts across the state for the Democratic primary — a predication that may hold true in Cambridge, as the city experiences an especially competitive election year.

State Representative Mike L. Connolly cast his ballot Tuesday afternoon at Cambridge City Hall, as he faces his first challenger after nearly a decade of representing the 26th Middlesex District.

With less than three hours until polling locations close, Connolly urged voters to turn out and cast their ballots in the “exciting and busy” primary.

“What I’m saying to people all day is: the most important endorsement comes from you, the voter,” Connolly said. “That’s what’s beautiful about our system is what ultimately matters is the decision each individual voter makes,” he added.

One of Cambridge’s six mail-in ballot drop off locations closed nearly two hours early Monday night, with no prior warning to voters.

Voters had until 8 p.m. Monday to return their mail-in ballots, but at the Maria L. Baldwin Elementary School location, voters were met with a locked box and a “kiosk closed” sign, according to a voter at the site and an image obtained by The Crimson.

Cambridge city spokesperson Jeremy H. Warnick confirmed that the drop box was locked before 8 p.m. by mistake and wrote that the Election Commission “took immediate steps” to reopen the box once they learned of the mishap.

State Representative Marjorie C. Decker cast her ballot early Tuesday afternoon at the Graham & Parks School, rallying support in the final stretch of Election Day as she fights to hold her seat against a fierce challenge from labor organizer Evan C. MacKay ’19.

Decker took to social media to showcase her ballot and encourage her supporters to brave the rain to vote in-person before polls close at 8 p.m.

“If you haven’t voted already, come on over,” Decker said in the video.

Representative Seth W. Moulton’s ’01 (D-Mass.) found support among Cambridge residents voting in person Tuesday in his bid to unseat 80-year-old Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), with many voters citing a desire for a younger candidate.

For many of the voters interviewed, age outweighed policy differences between the candidates. Seven of 12 voters interviewed at a polling site in Cambridge said that it was time for a younger legislator to take the Senate seat.

“I’m really sick of the Schumer and 90-plus route,” Jack Basavaiah, a 51-year old Moulton voter, said. Basavaiah said he does not think Moulton will win the primary, but voted for him anyway.

State Senate candidate Daniel A. Lander ’14 and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu ‘07 met voters at the Oak Square YMCA in Brighton after polls opened.

Lander is running against longtime incumbent William N. Brownsberger ’78. Few voters were at the polling center as rain grew heavier while Wu and Lander spoke with voters and canvassers from both Lander and Brownsberger’s campaigns.

Asked about his confidence in challenging a 14-year incumbent, Lander emphasized his campaign’s extensive outreach so far, saying that it had knocked on more than 43,000 doors and made more than 20,000 phone calls since launching last December.

Evan C. MacKay ’19 cast their Democratic primary ballot early Tuesday morning at the Graham & Parks School, kicking off their final day on the campaign trail.

MacKay said they were excited to cap off a monthslong campaign and expressed pride over the “momentum” their campaign had built.

“It feels really exciting to be part of this movement with so many people in all of our neighborhoods and around Massachusetts, insisting on change from our state legislature,” MacKay said.

The polls have officially opened in Cambridge for the Massachusetts state primary, giving voters a final chance to cast their ballots in contested races across the city.

Polling locations are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., as candidates carry out their final bids to secure votes across their districts.

Thousands of votes in the city have already been collected through a week of early voting and mail-in ballots. After early voting closed Friday night, the Cambridge Election Commission banked 7,933 ballots — including 1,912 in-person early votes and 6,021 mail-in ballots.