Polls are closed in Massachusetts on Election Day 2018 and the election results are starting to trickle in. Here’s what Massachusetts races have been called.
Question 1, concerning patient-to-nurse ratios, has been the most contested ballot question of the election, and Massachusetts voters have officially rejected the measure. Seventy percent of voters chose “no” meaning state-wide nurse-to-patient ratios will not be implemented at Massachusetts hospitals, adding more frustrations to a 20-year effort by the Massachusetts Nurses Association to enact such a law.
Both sides have said during the campaign process that their positions would help patient safety. Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association President and CEO Steve Walsh, who advocated for no on Question 1, said in a statement after the win that the decision allows hospitals to “continue providing the best possible care for patients throughout Massachusetts.”
“This is the beginning of a conversation, not the end. Question 1 forced some difficult and necessary discussions about the future of health care and the future of our workforce going forward. These conversations with our care teams and in our communities have been critically important and will continue in bargaining sessions, legislative debates, board rooms and newspapers,” he continued in a statement. “Thank you to everyone on both sides of this issue for speaking up, sharing concerns and getting involved. We may not agree on everything, but together we have made Massachusetts hospitals the best in the nation, and together we will make them stronger tomorrow.”
Massachusetts voters also passed Question 3 with 68 percent of voters supporting the measure, which keeps in place a 2016 law providing public accommodation protections to transgender individuals across the state. Question 3 has been considered a weighty opportunity for Massachusetts to send a message to the rest of the country, supporters say, showing support for transgender individuals as their rights are threatened nationwide.
“Transgender residents of Massachusetts can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that their hard-fought protections will remain in place,” said Human Rights Campaign National Press Secretary Sarah McBride in a statement. McBride was also one of HRC’s representatives on the Yes on 3 Executive Committee. “This was a crucial test for our community and movement. The Yes on 3 Campaign demonstrated that when we tell the stories of transgender people and our families, voters will reject the scare tactics and side with dignity and equality.”
“Massachusetts has led the way time and time again and you have the opportunity to do that once more,” actress Laverne Cox previous said while campaigning for Yes on 3 in Massachusetts. “The New York Times published an article that was based on a leaked memo from the current administration that stated that they want to basically attempt to legislate transgender people out of existence. Massachusetts has an opportunity to send a message to this administration, to rest of the country, that this is not who we are.”
Thank you Massachusetts. So much love and respect for you! #YesOn3 https://t.co/Amuk8czU0F
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) November 7, 2018
Voter turnout on Election Day was high across the commonwealth, officials said. Massachusetts voters also passed ballot Question 2, which asked residents to create a citizen’s commission to look into campaign financing in Massachusetts elections, with 70.9 percent of the vote in favor of the ballot measure.
Election Day 2018: Massachusetts election results for Governor, U.S. Senate
While no Massachusetts races had the potential to flip any U.S. House seats from Republican to Democrat, changing who controls the House, there were still big-ticket names on the ballot.
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker won a second term over his Democratic challenger Jay Gonzalez. Baker had been leading in the polls up to Election Day by nearly 40 points, and the Associated Press called the race at 8:03 p.m., very shortly after polls closed. Though a Republican in progressive Massachusetts, Baker has been named the most popular governor in the U.S. more than once.
Elizabeth Warren also won a second term, in a race called quickly after polls closed.Warren kept her seat as U.S. Senator from Massachusetts over two challengers, Republican Geoff Diehl (who worked on President Donald Trump’s Massachusetts campaign in 2016) and Independent Shiva Ayyadurai.
Warren has said that a 2020 presidential run might be in the cards for her, once the midterm elections are over. A poll out Monday from Axios by SurveyMonkey found that Warren would beat Trump if the election were held today — but only by two points.
Warren ranked the worst of the potential female 2020 candidates pitted against Trump for the poll, with former First Lady Michelle Obama faring the best with a 13-point lead over Trump, per the poll.
Thank you, Massachusetts! Six years ago, I promised to go to Washington to fight for you every single day. Tonight, let’s send the powerful interests a message: We’re just getting started.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) November 7, 2018
Back to the 2018 election results, Massachusetts did have nine House seats on the ballot across the state, but for four of those seats, Democrats ran unopposed: Richard Neal of the 1st Congressional District, Joseph Kennedy of the 4th, Ayanna Pressley of the 7th and Stephen Lynch of the 8th.
Pressley’s official 2018 election win is historic: She is the first black woman — and the first woman of color — to represent Massachusetts in Congress. After the September primary election, in which Pressley beat out ten-term incumbent Michael Capuano, Pressley said on Twitter, “Together, we won. What our campaign accomplished last night isn’t our victory alone. It was for every person who has been left out and left behind or told change would never come. Together, we are powerful. And we’re just getting started.”
Other Massachusetts incumbents to keep their seats in this election include Attorney General Maura Healey, Secretary of State William F. Galvn, Auditor Suzanne Bump and Treasurer Deborah Goldberg.
