Harnessing the left, Ed Markey easily fended off Joe Kennedy, who didn’t offer a rationale for firing the incumbent and got rejected for his ambition. Read more ›

Over all, today’s election in Massachusetts went smoothly in contrast to those primaries we saw earlier in states such as Wisconsin and Georgia.

This could be one of those nights we go to bed without knowing the outcome of a race, and I’m talking about the seat that Joe Kennedy relinquished to run for Senate.

This 4th District race is super close between Jesse Mermell and Jake Auchincloss — too close to call, even though the vote tally appears complete in all but a few townships. Mass. 4th District results ›

Markey pivoted to his central issue, the Green New Deal. “We took unapologetically progressive stances on all of them,” he said. “We never blinked.”

Markey’s speech was a full-throated rallying cry to progressives and young voters. “Today and every day, I say, Black Lives Matter,” he said.

“The progressive movement knows how to fight. We will not surrender. We know our work is not done,” Markey says. “And priority No. 1 is to remove Donald Trump from the White House."

Markey speaks directly to the young people who have propelled him to victory. “Don’t just challenge the status quo. Dismantle it. Take over.”

“If we all believe in each other, we may just get my sneakers to last another eight weeks on the campaign trail,” Markey says. Everyone loves the sneakers.

Markey’s out, addressing his supporters in Malden. He says he owes this win to young people. “Thank you for believing in me, as I believe in you.”

In the 4th Congressional District Republican primary, Julie Hall, a retired Air Force colonel, has defeated Air Force veteran David Rosa.

In the 4th Congressional District race, interesting that Jesse Mermell defeated Jake Auchincloss in Newton, where he serves as city councilor. Mass. 4th District results ›

Jesse Mermell, who has taken the lead in the 4th District, has served as a V.P. at Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts and a communications adviser to former Gov. Deval Patrick.

We’re mostly waiting now for the outcome of the Fourth Congressional District race — the seat that Joe Kennedy gave up because he decided to run for Senate. Mass. 4th District results ›

From this point forward, candidates in Massachusetts would be foolish to ignore what motivated, organized young people can do for a campaign.

Oooooh, now they’re playing Taylor Swift’s “The Last Great American Dynasty” at Ed Markey’s Zoom victory party.

With the Democratic party so dominant in Massachusetts, it’s likely that the winners of today’s Democratic primaries will go on to win in November.

It’s worth noting that five of the Democratic congressional primaries in Massachusetts — which has nine districts — were uncontested today.

They’re listening to Lizzo at Ed Markey’s Zoom victory party. His supporters also seem to like exposed brick.

Kennedy never quite got past that question, “Why are you running?” I assume the calculus was that Markey’s seat was his best opening, but that’s not a great answer for TV.

Markey succeeded in making this about more than who is the progressive, but about whether Kennedy had proved his case for the Senate.

Right now I think it’s a challenge for a white man, even a young one, to present himself as the face of change to Democratic voters.

What does Kennedy do now? He could land in a Biden administration, but it’s a blow for someone who was recently giving the Democratic response to Trump’s State of the Union.

Kennedy was dry-eyed for the length of the speech, but his voice trembled a little as he addressed a few words to his sleeping children. “Always be in the ring,” he told them.

Did Kennedy identify as a progressive before this race? I know the Markey primary forced him into that corner, but I wonder where he goes ideologically next.

We can now call the 8th District race. Rep. Stephen Lynch easily held off a challenge from a progressive opponent, Robbie Goldstein. He’s held a seat in Congress since 2001. Mass. 8th District results ›

One word notably absent from Joe Kennedy’s concession speech: progressive. Instead he talked about poor people, kitchen tables stacked with bills.

On tonight’s historical benchmark, of a Kennedy losing a race in Massachusetts: "To my family … whose name was invoked far more often than I anticipated in this race … You are my heroes.”

Kennedy is speaking about the working-class communities that were his biggest reservoirs of support. “No matter the results tonight, I would do this again with all of you in a heartbeat.”

Kennedy is speaking to his supporters. Says he just placed a call to Markey. “The senator is a good man,” he says. “You have never heard me say otherwise.”

Ed Markey, who has served in Congress for 43 years, easily defeated a scion of one of the country’s most storied political families.

There is now a cat in the Ed Markey Zoom victory party.

We have a race call: The incumbent Senator Edward J. Markey has beaten back a challenge by Joseph P. Kennedy III to win the Democratic primary in Massachusetts. Read more ›

A reader notes that Joe Kennedy III is barely winning 30% of the vote in Brookline, the city where John F. Kennedy was born. He’s around 18% in Cambridge. Ouch. Town-by-town results ›

Alex Morse’s campaign — and the sexual misconduct allegations against him that quickly unraveled — were the topic of a story last week by our colleague Jeremy Peters. Read more ›

There’s an important difference between Neal’s district and the five where incumbent House Dems have lost over the last two cycles: It is not anchored in/around a big city.

Cori Bush showed that the Justice Democrats could beat established Black Democrats in St. Louis. Morse’s loss shows they have a steeper hill among working-class white voters. Read more ›

Have there really been no votes posted yet in Boston?

There was some talk early last year that John Tierney, whom Moulton ousted in a 2014 primary, was recruiting a challenger to Moulton, but a serious candidate with real funding never materialized.

Moulton’s primary opponents had attempted to capitalize on his opposition to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but he won re-election by an overwhelming margin.

Seth Moulton, a Marine veteran who served in Iraq, was first elected to Congress in 2014. He won the 2018 general election with 65% of the vote.

In the 6th Congressional District, the incumbent Seth Moulton has been declared the winner by The Associated Press. He briefly ran for the Democratic presidential nomination. Mass. 6th District results ›

It appears to be shaping up as a good night for incumbents. Rep. Stephen Lynch is well ahead of his progressive challenger Robbie Goldstein, an infectious disease specialist. Mass. 8th District results ›

In the 4th District race to replace Kennedy, Jessie Mermell has taken the lead. She’s a former Brookline select board member who was endorsed by Representative Ayanna Pressley. Mass. 4th District results ›

Representative Richard Neal, the chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, faced a challenge from the left from Mayor Alex Morse of Holyoke. Read more ›

The winner in Massachusetts’s First Congressional District is the incumbent, Richard Neal, who has served in Congress since 1989. Mass. 1st District results ›

A source texts: “The Ed Markey Zoom election night party is unreal.” Apparently Jonathan Van Ness from “Queer Eye" just joined to entertain Markey supporters.

Kennedy’s team wasn’t reckless — polls were telling them he could win. But they did not anticipate what an A.O.C. endorsement meant, what the Sunrise Movement meant.

Markey’s work on the Green New Deal, which he introduced last year with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, was central in turning this race around for him.

Along more traditional lines in the First District, Pelosi is supporting Richard Neal, the incumbent, while Ocasio-Cortez is supporting Morse, his progressive challenger.

Pelosi endorsed Joe Kennedy, 39, while Ocasio-Cortez threw her support behind Ed Markey, 74, tweeting that “It’s not your age that counts — it’s the age of your ideas.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York have thrown their support behind opposing candidates in the Senate race and the First District.

Those numbers are staggering. A Kennedy! In Somerville! Just trounced. He never answered the Why Run question for those voters, even outside of progressive policy.

Well, Ed Markey has officially trounced Joe Kennedy in Somerville, outside Boston, with 80 percent of the vote. Town-by-town results ›

In the Fourth Congressional District, where Kennedy is vacating his seat, winning the Democratic nomination essentially guarantees a victory in the general election.

Jake Auchincloss, running to replace Joe Kennedy, is regarded as a moderate. He was once a registered Republican and worked for the election of Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican.

Jesse Mermell is one of Representative Ayanna Pressley’s best friends but has not been able to get progressives to rally around her candidacy. Auchincloss has capitalized. Mass. 4th District results ›

That race in the Fourth Congressional District is so crowded that I think it gives Auchincloss an advantage — the progressive vote is so split.

Jake Auchincloss is considered the favorite to replace Joe Kennedy in Congress, and the very early returns we’re getting show him leading his nearest opponent, Jesse Mermell. Mass. 4th District results ›

Markey has had fun with the Kennedy contrast, greeting a Globe columnist in the driveway of the modest Malden home where he grew up by saying, “Welcome to the compound!”

On the subject of “ask ya fatha,” I think Markey has benefited from his accent in this race. He’s not patrician, and that distinguishes him from Kennedy.

After the debate Markey released an online video that ended with a callout to the most famous Kennedy line of all: “It’s time to start asking what your country can do for you.”

It’s also worth noting that Markey has taken direct aim at the Kennedy legacy. During a debate he howled “ask your father” who is funding Kennedy’s super PAC.

Jake Auchincloss’s family tree includes Gore Vidal and Jackie Kennedy and his father, Hugh Auchincloss, is the top deputy to Dr. Anthony Fauci. Mass. 4th District results ›

Jake Auchincloss, one of the candidates running in the 4th Congressional District to replace Joe Kennedy, also comes from a storied political family.

Two days ago, Beto O’Rourke was in the news again, endorsing Representative Joe Kennedy III, his former colleague in the House of Representatives.

The Kennedy name is not working the same way with younger voters. To a lot of them, the name scans as privilege, entitlement.

There is still a deep reverence for the Kennedy name among older voters; I met women in their 60s or 70s who were clearly thrilled just to be in the room at Joe’s campaign events.

These things are hard to separate: Has Markey not done enough to be known in Black communities? Maybe. Is Kennedy helped by his last name? Also a big possibility.

Kennedy has touted his support among nonwhite voters to accuse Markey’s progressive base of hypocrisy. Markey’s defenders say Kennedy’s support is more due to name recognition.

Kennedy has actually built his lead among Black voters: He’s up by 54%-35% among nonwhite voters, according to a Suffolk U. poll. So we’ll see which groups turned out today.

In the Kennedy-Markey race, recent polls suggest a big race gap. While Markey has been surging among young voters and progressives, Kennedy has a solid lead among Black voters.

Today’s Senate primary in Massachusetts tests the resilience of one of the Democratic Party’s most revered political dynasties, the Kennedy family.

Progressive leaders and groups have also tried to boost Alex Morse in Western Massachusetts, and those efforts may fall short. Read more ›

Tonight’s results will give us a good sense of the muscle of the progressive left in Massachusetts. We’ve seen what they did for Markey, who started 14 points behind Kennedy.

Amid the pandemic, the Massachusetts legislature required Secretary of State Bill Galvin to mail absentee voting applications to all 4.58 million registered voters.

Progressives who want to support women and people of color may be concerned that Joe Kennedy, a young white man, could stay in the Senate for decades.

One theory I heard is that progressives are rallying around figures who they expect to step aside in the next cycle, when there may be women and people of color ready to run.

It seems likely to be a good night for older white Catholic men, who are positioned to fight off much younger challengers. Ed Markey is 74, Richie Neal is 71, Stephen Lynch is 65.

Will we get the full Massachusetts results tonight? Bill Galvin, the secretary of state, said Monday it was unlikely. But officials seemed more optimistic today.

Can I just say what a treat it is to have town-by-town election results? This seems to be a New England phenomenon but if it were up to me we’d get them everywhere.

Massachusetts also set up more than 190 “drop boxes” around the state to provide convenient places for voters to turn in their ballots.

Bill Galvin, the Massachusetts secretary of state, had urged voters to deliver their “mail” ballots in person to town or city halls, avoiding postal delays.

As of Monday, more than 768,000 Democratic ballots and more than 88,000 Republican ballots had already been cast in mail voting and in-person early voting.

Today’s races show the outgrowth of these changes, with Alex Morse running in MA-1, but also with the youthful organizing and donations that have flowed to Senator Ed Markey.

On the national stage, Boston’s political changes began with Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s win in 2018. But there were signs of change before that, particularly at the city council level.

Mayoral and governor’s races are coming up, and we’ll see some of these women and people of color try to break through to the donor class. It costs a lot to run here, though.

There are plenty of talented women and people of color winning races down ballot, by the way. Boston elected a city council dominated by women and people of color.

Before 1990, the record for primary turnout was set in 1982 when Michael S. Dukakis defeated the incumbent governor, Edward J. King, in a bitterly fought Democratic primary.

The previous record in a Mass. primary was 1.5 million votes. That was in 1990, when Democrats nominated Dr. John Silber to run for governor, and Republicans picked William Weld.

Massachusetts, despite its political liberalism, has a dismal record of electing women or people of color. The state didn’t elect a female senator until Elizabeth Warren, in 2012.

Looking out at these races tonight, it’s notable how many of them feature young white men trying to replace older white men.

This was the first primary in which Massachusetts permitted early voting, although the state previously held early voting in general elections.

The total turnout has been boosted by unprecedented levels of mail-in voting and early voting in a primary, during the coronavirus pandemic.

Massachusetts officials were expecting record turnout for this primary, estimating that more than 1.2 million Democrats would cast ballots, and more than 150,000 Republicans.

Polls have now closed in Massachusetts, as we await the first results. Officials are not expecting major delays in counting the ballots.

In western Massachusetts, another young progressive is taking on a powerful incumbent. Representative Richard E. Neal is facing a challenge by Mayor Alex Morse of Holyoke.

In a role reversal from some other 2020 primaries, Markey, the incumbent, positioned himself as a progressive candidate, though Kennedy supports many of the same positions.

The race of the night is the Democratic Senate primary between Senator Edward J. Markey, the incumbent, and Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III. Read more ›

Massachusetts is a state that relishes its hard-fought political campaigns as much as its sports teams, and several closely watched primary elections are unfolding today. What to watch for ›

Hi all, and welcome to our live analysis of the Massachusetts primary. Polls will close at 8 p.m. ET, and we might actually get some quick results tonight.