2020 General Election Recap: Democrats Add to Massachusetts Majorities

by Jacob Stern, Massachusetts Chapter Deputy Director

About the Massachusetts Chapter's Political Program

The Sierra Club’s Massachusetts political program has grown tremendously in the last three years. Our Chapter went from making endorsements in a handful of local races in 2017 to, in 2020, making 50+ endorsements in municipal, state, and federal races. We also created multiple political action committees to deepen our engagement in races and support a highly successful intern program. Finally, we have expanded our volunteer teams who engage in political work from a single team that handles endorsements to three teams, each with a specific focus: fundraising, digital communications, and outreach to Sierra Club members.

2020 MA General Election Recap

While 2020 was a chaotic year of mixed results for both parties at the national level: Democrats earned a new seat in the US Senate; won the Presidency; but lost seats in the House, Massachusetts elections by and large were mostly uneventful. Despite a Republican governor, Democrats will continue to dominate state and federal offices in 2021-2022. Approximately 3.5 million (72% of voters) turned out--a an all-time record. 41% voted by mail, 28% voted in-person, and 31% voted on election day.

At the time of writing, a small percentage of votes remain to be tallied, but the results are clear. At the federal level, Democratic nominee Vice President Biden defeated President Trump by nearly two-to-one, winning even a handful of right-leaning Massachusetts towns that voted for the President in 2016. After an incredibly contentious primary, Senator Markey coasted to an easy victory, defeating Republican nominee Kevin O'Connor by a similar margin. Massachusetts re-elected all eight of its incumbent U.S. Representatives in uncontested or nominally contested races. The only change in the state's congressional delegation is that Newton City Councilor Jake Auchincloss will be replacing outgoing Rep. Joe Kennedy in the 4th congressional district. After a nail-biting primary, Auchincloss decisivly defeated Republican nominee Julie Hall.

At the state level, Massachusetts voters turned down a Sierra Club-endorsed ballot measure to adopt a ranked choice voting system for state and federal elections. The measure failed, recieving only 45% of the vote. A similar voting structure is only currently used by one other state: Maine. While the final results are still coming in, it appears that 17 new State Represenatives and State Senators will be joining the Massachusetts legislature in January. At the time of writing it appears that Democrats netted one additional seat in both chambers, bringing their majority in the Massachusetts Senate to an eye-watering 37-3. Despite their losses, it is noteable that Republicans still managed to fend off a number of strong challenges across the state in a year where top of the ticket Democratic candidates dominated statewide.

Race-by-Race Results for Endorsed Candidates

November 3rd General Election

*Incumbent re-elected

2020 Municipal & Special Elections