MASSACHUSETTS (CN) - In a state where Hillary Clinton received about twice as many votes as Donald Trump in 2016, the majority of election surprises this year will likely take place in Massachusetts’ Sept. 4 primary.
Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley is hoping to become the next Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez by unseating 10-term Democratic incumbent Mike Capuano, in the Bay State’s 7th Congressional District.
Ocasio-Cortez grabbed national headlines when she won New York’s 14th congressional primary in a heavily Democratic district, by upsetting incumbent Joe Crowley on June 26.
Pressley hopes to do the same, although the most recent poll from WBUR gave Capuano a 13-point lead to retain his seat.
With no Republican challenger in November, Pressley or Capuano would easily cruise to D.C. with a primary win.
Meanwhile, 10 Democrats are vying to replace retiring U.S. Representative Niki Tsongas in Massachusetts’ 3rd Congressional District.
The full batch of Democratic candidates includes Dan Koh, former chief of staff to the mayor of Boston, state Senator Barbara L’Italien, state Rep. Juana Matias, former ambassador to Denmark Rufus Gifford, Jeff Ballinger, Alexandra Chandler, Abhijit Das, Leonard Golder, Bopha Malone and Lori Trahan.
Whoever wins will face Rick Green in November, the sole Republican candidate for the seat.
In District 8, incumbent Stephen Lynch is facing a challenge from Christopher Voehl and Brianna Wu.
Congressional incumbents Joe Kennedy III, Bill Keating and Richard Neal face challenges from Gary Rucinski, Bill Cimbrelo and Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, respectively. All three challengers are running against popular incumbents with vastly larger war chests.
Although Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren is facing opposition in November, she has no primary challenger.
On the other, three candidates are vying for the Republican nod. State Rep. Geoff Diehl, John Kingston and Beth Lindstrom are all hoping to make Warren a single-term senator.
Shiva Ayyadurai, a political newcomer who has sued numerous media outlets for challenging his claim to have invented email, originally announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination. He later pulled out of the primary to run against Warren as an independent.
Republican Governor Charlie Baker has a primary challenger in Scott Lively. An evangelical pastor who recently prevailed against charges of crimes against humanity for consulting with the Uganda government on their anti-LBGTQ laws, Lively is challenging Baker from the right.
Jay Gonzalez, who was a cabinet member under former Governor Deval Patrick and Bob Massie are both hoping to claim the Democratic nod to run against either Baker or Lively.
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