More than 60 percent of the members of the Massachusetts legislature are virtually guaranteed re-election this fall because they will have no opponents, or possibly only token opposition.
Last week, the State House News Service reported that "a total of 125 incumbent lawmakers, including members in both parties, were the only major-party candidates in their districts to file nomination papers with Secretary of State William Galvin by Tuesday's (June 2) deadline...."
Referring to these unopposed incumbents, the SHNS said, "They could still receive challenges from write-in campaigns. But the ballots are largely set, and as it stands now, none of those 125 legislators -- representing 62.5 percent of the General Court -- will face a declared Republican or Democratic opponent in either the Sept. 1 primary election or Nov. 3 general election."
With the Democratic Party holding supermajorities in both the House and Senate, Massachusetts is essentially a one-party state. It's been that way for a long time, so most voters must be satisfied with the situation.
Yes, the state's highest elected office holder, Governor Charlie Baker, is a Republican. But his approach to governing has no ideological tinge. He's a born manager/problem solver. Baker never has difficulty finding common ground with centrist Democrats.
Between this year and next, there will be some turnover of the normal kind in the legislature because a number of incumbents have opted not to seek another term. Fourteen members of the lower branch, for example, fall into that category, including four Dems who embody the truth that incumbency is a highly attractive trait in Massachusetts:
Angelo Scaccia of Boston, first elected in 1973; Ted Speliotis of Danvers, first elected in 1979; Tom Petrolati of Ludlow, first elected in 1987; and Lou Kafka of Stoughton, first elected in 1991.
Familiar faces. We can't get enough of them in Massachusetts politics.
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