by Anahitha Menon, News Reporter
graphic by Emily Cheng
Governor
The Governor is the head of the executive branch and the highest state officer in Massachusetts. The incumbent, Charlie Baker, has announced that neither he nor his Lieutenant Governor, Karyn Polito, will run for Governor in November.
For the Sept. 6 primary, the race is uncontested on the Democratic side, with Maura Healey, the current Attorney General, as the only candidate. Healey’s main focuses for the campaign include tackling climate change, increased investment in public transportation, affordable housing and child care and school modernization.
According to a July Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll, Healey has a 30 point lead over both Republican candidates in the general election. If she wins, she would break a streak of Massachusetts Attorneys General losing the race for governor — her last three predecessors ran and lost.
On the Republican side, two candidates will face off in the State Primary: former state representative Geoff Diehl and businessman Chris Doughty, who has never run for office before. Diehl, who has Donald Trump’s and the party’s endorsement, led Doughty in a June University of Massachusetts poll.
Attorney General
The Attorney General is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer in the state, whose duties include combating fraud and corruption, investigating and prosecuting crime and protecting civil rights.
Two Democrats are running in the State Primary. Andrea Campbell is a former Boston City Councilor who has the endorsement of Healey. Her campaign focuses on equity and equal opportunity. Shannon Liss-Riordan has earned the endorsements of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Senator Elizabeth Warren. For the past 13 years she has built a reputation filing lawsuits against major corporations on behalf of workers as a partner at her Boston-based law firm Lichten & Liss-Riordan. Former candidate Quentin Palfrey, who dropped out of the race in August, has endorsed Campbell.
Trial attorney and staunch Trump supporter Jay McMahon is the only Republican candidate. McMahon opposes the firing of first responders who refuse to comply with vaccine mandates and has said that as Attorney General, he wants to bring cases in their favor. He also plans to take more steps to combat the opioid crisis and prosecute low-level charges.
Secretary of State
The Secretary of State is responsible for the maintenance of public records, administration of elections, storage of historical data, preservation of historical sites, registration of corporations and the filing and distribution of regulations and public documents.
There are two Democrats running for Secretary; the first is the incumbent, Bill Galvin, who has served for 26 years, with voter access and historical preservation as his main issues. The second is Tanisha Sullivan, an attorney and president of the Boston branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), whose platform includes transparency in voting, tackling economic inequality, preventing fraud and promoting the growth of small businesses.
Reporter at WSMIN Rayla Campbell, a news radio station in New Hampshire, is the only Republican running for the position. Campbell opposes mail-in voting and campaigns for more transparent elections and to combat voter suppression.
Statewide ballot questions/measures
A ballot measure is a law, issue or question that appears on a statewide or local ballot for voters of the jurisdiction to decide. A ballot measure requires the support of a majority of those voting on it to pass. Other questions related to alcohol retail licensing and medical loss ratios for dental insurance plans will also appear on the Nov. 8 ballot.
The Fair Share Amendment
The Fair Share Amendment, also known as the Tax on Income Above $1 Million for Education and Transportation Amendment, would impose an additional 4% tax on personal incomes over $1 million on top of the existing 5% flat-rate income tax, which applies to all personal income. The proposal would garner approximately $2 billion a year in new revenue dedicated to public education and repairing and maintaining roads, bridges and public transportation.
‘22 graduate Andrew Kupovich worked on the campaign for the amendment this summer. He said that he supports the amendment because the tax increase affects only a few people, while the money going to education and transportation benefits everyone.
“These are problems that face everyone,” he said. “This is a ballot question that absolutely everyone in the state has some sort of relation to whether or not they support it, and I’ve learned it’s very easy to connect with people when you’re not talking about some far-off political figure, but you’re talking about their train ride or their potholes or their kid’s school.”
