2018 Massachusetts House of Representatives election

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2018 Massachusetts House of Representatives election
November 6, 2018
All 160 seats in the Massachusetts House of Representatives
81 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Robert DeLeo Bradley Jones
Party Democratic Republican
Leader since 2009 2002
Leader's seat 19th Suffolk 20th Middlesex
Last election 125 seats 35 seats
Seats before 117 34
Seats after 127 32
Seat change Increase 10 Decrease 2

The 2018 Massachusetts House of Representatives election was held on November 6, 2018, as part of the 2018 United States elections. All 160 seats in the Massachusetts House of Representatives were up for election.[1] The semi-closed primary took place on September 4, 2018, and the candidate filing deadline was June 5, 2018.[2]

The Democratic Party expanded its supermajority in the chamber, winning 127 seats to the Republican Party's 32. One seat, the 2nd Franklin district, was won by independent incumbent Susannah Whipps.[1][3] Prior to the election, Democrats held 117 seats, Republicans held 34, two members were independents, and seven seats were vacant.[1]

Background

The election was held during the first midterm election of President Donald Trump's administration. Massachusetts had voted strongly for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, with Clinton winning approximately 60 percent of the statewide vote.[1] At the state level, Massachusetts was under divided government, with Republican Charlie Baker serving as governor while Democrats controlled both chambers of the General Court.[3] Baker, a moderate who had distanced himself from President Trump, was running for re-election and was considered heavily favoured.[4]

Twenty incumbent state representatives did not seek re-election in 2018.[5] State representatives in Massachusetts serve two-year terms, with all seats contested every two years.[2]

Results

Overview

The Massachusetts State House in Boston, the seat of the legislature

Democrats gained a net of ten seats compared to the pre-election composition and increased their supermajority from 117 to 127 seats.[3] Republicans lost a net of two seats, dropping from 34 to 32.[1] Three Democratic incumbents were defeated in the September primary elections, but no Democratic incumbents lost in the general election.[3] In the general election, two incumbents were defeated: one Republican and one independent.[3]

Composition of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
PartyBefore electionAfter electionChange
  Democratic117127Increase 10
  Republican3432Decrease 2
  Independent21Decrease 1
Vacant70Decrease 7
Total160

Seats that changed party

Two seats flipped from Republican to Democratic control:[6]

DistrictOutgoing incumbentPartyWinnerParty
18th EssexJim LyonsRepublicanTram NguyenDemocratic
17th WorcesterOpen seat (previously Republican)RepublicanDavid LeBoeufDemocratic

18th Essex District

The most closely watched race was in the 18th Essex District, where Democrat Tram Nguyen, a legal aid attorney from Andover, defeated four-term Republican incumbent Jim Lyons with approximately 54 percent of the vote.[7] Nguyen, a first-generation Vietnamese American immigrant who came to the United States as a political refugee at age five, became the first Vietnamese American woman elected to public office in Massachusetts.[8] The flip was notable because Lyons, a staunch conservative who had opposed abortion and LGBTQ rights, had held the seat since 2010.[6] Nguyen was the only candidate in Massachusetts to receive an endorsement from 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.[9]

17th Worcester District

In the 17th Worcester District, an open seat following the retirement of the Republican incumbent, Democrat David LeBoeuf defeated Republican Paul Fullen with approximately 59 percent of the vote.[10] Both candidates were first-time office-seekers; LeBoeuf had previously worked as a staffer for the Massachusetts Senate, while Fullen was a firefighter from Worcester.[9]

Subsequent leadership

Following the election, Democrat Robert DeLeo of Winthrop was re-elected as Speaker of the House for a sixth consecutive term on January 2, 2019, winning a 119-31 party-line vote over Republican Minority Leader Bradley Jones.[11] Eight Democrats broke from the party line by voting "present" instead of supporting either candidate, including four newly elected lawmakers.[11] Whipps, the sole independent, joined Democrats in supporting DeLeo.[11]

See also

References