Massachusetts voters are heading to the polls as it is the last day to cast ballots in primary elections for several statewide offices and for other key local contests.
Blame it on the rain.
Or maybe the scheduling of the primary the day after Labor Day.
For whatever reason, voter turnout, as of midday, was described as “very low” to “awful” by poll workers across Massachusetts, according to various reports.
Hundreds of thousands of ballots have already been cast by mail.
At Longmeadow Town Hall, where residents of each ward in the town go to vote, turnout was said to be steady in the two hours after the polls opened at 7 a.m.
Denise Benoit said she never fails to vote.
“I think it is my civic duty and honor to vote,” she said. “It is very important to have a voice in what happens in our country.”
Benoit took a Democratic ballot and said she voted for Eric Lesser in the three-way primary for lieutenant governor.
“All the issues are important, but east-west transportation is a big one for me,” she said.
Lesser, the four-term State Senator from Longmeadow walked out of the polling place after casting his ballot, and said he’s confident of success in the primary.
“We know what’s at stake when we have somebody from western Mass who can speak for our needs, who can get West-East Rail done, who can partner with Gov. Healey to bring more investment, more attention, more focus to our region,” Lesser said.
Polls released in late August showed Lesser trailing Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll, but still within striking distance because of a large percentage of voters who said they were undecided. The third candidate is Acton State Rep. Tami Gouveia.
Maura Healey is assured of winning the Democratic nomination for governor because she has no active opponent. But there is a high amount of uncertainty in the primaries for other state offices.
Andrea Campbell, who has been endorsed by Healey to succeed her as attorney general, is in a dead heat with Shannon Liss-Reardon, who has self-financed her campaign with more than $9 million and put on an advertising blitz that has helped her closed the gap in the race. Quentin Palfrey, who won the endorsement of the Democratic convention, suspended his campaign for AG and endorsed Campbell.
The Democratic primary for State Auditor between transportation advocate Chris Dempsey and State Senator Diana DiZoglio is also a tossup, according to the most recent polling.
Republican primary voters will nominate a candidate for governor. It is a two- person contest between former State Rep. Geoff Diehl, who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, and Chris Doughty, a businessman making his first run for elective office.
Cheryl Howard of Longmeadow said she voted for Diehl, in part, because of his opposition to mandatory COVID vaccines for state employees.
“I think he’d like to get people back to work,” she said.
Another Longmeadow resident, Lawrence Stearns, said he voted for Doughty because he believes he has a better shot of winning against Healey in November.
“I voted for all new people,” Stearns said. “I hope new blood will make a big change.”
Other offices on the ballot today include governor’s council, sheriff, district attorney, state representative and state senator.
Two Democrats are vying to succeed Lesser in the newly-redrawn Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester Senate District.
Former congressional aide Sydney Levin-Epstein of Longmeadow is running for the senate seat in her first try for elective office.
“Today is the first day I had the privilege of voting for myself,” she said. “It was exciting and rewarding. I’m proud of the policy-focused campaign I’ve built.”
After just one term in the Massachusetts House, but with more than a dozen years on local government bodies in Ludlow, Jake Oliveira is hoping to secure the Democratic nomination for the open senate district.
“I think the wealth of experience at the local level, but also at the state level where I was a legislative aide and spent 12 years working for our state university system,” he said when asked what he thought was the key to winning the primary.
The winner of the Levin-Epstein, Oliveira primary will face businessman and former Granby Selectboard member William Johnson, who is unopposed for the Republican nomination, in the November election.
