2010 Massachusetts elections

The Massachusetts general election, 2010 was held on November 2, 2010 throughout Massachusetts. Primary elections took place on September 14, 2010.

Governor and Lieutenant Governor
Governor Deval Patrick and Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray sought re-election. Republicans nominated former Harvard Pilgrim Health Care CEO Charlie Baker for Governor and Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei for Lieutenant Governor. State Treasurer Tim Cahill left the Democratic Party in September 2009 ran as an independent candidate.

Patrick and Murray were re-elected to a second term in office.

Secretary of the Commonwealth
Democratic incumbent William F. Galvin sought re-election. Republicans nominated Woburn City Clerk William Campbell. Galvin was also challenged by independent candidate James D. Henderson.

General election
Galvin was re-elected to a fourth term in office with 64% of the vote.

Attorney General
Attorney General Martha Coakley sought re-election.

Republican primary
The Republicans did not formally endorse a candidate at their state convention. Nevertheless, two late entry candidates, Jim McKenna, and Guy Carbone entered the campaign as write-in candidates. James McKenna received 27,711 certified write-in votes, which was a United States and Massachusetts electoral record.

General election
Coakley was re-elected.

Treasurer
Treasurer Tim Cahill retired to run for governor as an independent.

Democratic primary
Former Democratic National Committee National Chairman Steve Grossman won the Democratic primary against Boston City Councilor Stephen J. Murphy, and was opposed by Republican State Representative Karyn Polito (of Shrewsbury) in the general election.

Auditor
Auditor Joe DeNucci retired.

Candidates

 * Mary Z. Connaughton, former board member of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority
 * Kamal Jain, Libertarian nominee for Auditor in 2002

Candidates

 * Suzanne Bump, former Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development
 * Guy Glodis, Worcester County Sheriff
 * Mike Lake

General election
Nathanael Fortune, the Green-Rainbow Party nominee, also appeared on the November ballot.

United States Senate
Neither of Massachusetts's two seats in the United States Senate was up for election in the 2010 general election. In January 2010, Republican Scott Brown won a special election to fill the seat of Ted Kennedy.

United States House of Representatives
All of Massachusetts's ten seats in the United States House of Representatives are up for election in 2010. All of the incumbent Representatives are seeking re-election, with the exception of Bill Delahunt of District 10. Massachusetts is expected to lose one congressional seat in the redistricting that will follow the 2010 census.

Massachusetts Senate
All 40 seats in the Massachusetts Senate were up for election in 2010.

Massachusetts House of Representatives
All 160 seats in the Massachusetts House of Representatives were up for election in 2010.

Ballot measures
There were three statewide ballot questions, all initiatives. Question 1 passed, but Questions 2 and 3 failed.

Question 1 repealed the sales tax on alcohol. Question 2 would have repealed an affordable housing statute. Question 3 would have lowered the sales tax rate.

County
Counties in Massachusetts will elect County Commissioners, District Attorneys, and Sheriffs.