BOSTON (AP) — Republicans in Massachusetts will choose candidates to challenge U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch in Tuesday’s primaries, a race that tops a slate of federal, state and local races being held across the state.
Warren is seeking a third term and has no rivals for the Democratic nomination. The possible Republican nominees are industrial engineer Bob Antonellis, Quincy City Council President Ian Cain and attorney John Deaton.
Deaton is by far the best-funded candidate in the GOP field, thanks in large part to the $1 million he loaned to his campaign. He more than doubled Cain’s spending, and had about $975,000 in the bank at the end of June. By comparison, Cain had about $22,000 left in his war chest.
Warren faced a competitive race in her first U.S. Senate bid in 2012, when she toppled Republican incumbent Scott Brown. She received more than 60% of the vote in 2018. Biden won the state with 66% of the vote in the 2020 presidential race.
In the 8th Congressional District in eastern Massachusetts, Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch faces no challenge in his race for a 12th full term. Vying for the Republican nomination are videographer Rob Burke, health care worker and retired Verizon employee Jim Govatsos and bar owner Daniel Kelly.
Burke challenged Lynch in the 2022 general election and received 30% of the vote, compared to Lynch’s 70%. Biden won this Boston-area district in 2020 with 67% of the vote. Lynch had about $1.1 million in the bank as of late June. None of these Republican challengers have reported raising money.
Democrats hold the Bay State’s congressional delegation in a tight grip, with both the U.S. Senate and all nine U.S. House seats firmly in their hands. They also hold lopsided supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature, where all seats are up for election in November. Still, Republicans hope to build on their position in the state Senate, where they flipped a vacant Democratic seat in 2023.
