Yes. Especially against sitting legislators.
In Massachusetts, about one in ten state legislators faces a challenger in their primary. In Washington, which has used all-party primaries since 2008, it’s one in four. In California, it’s more than two in five.
In Massachusetts, most incumbents never face a challenger
Massachusetts has 200 legislative seats. Each one has two possible party primaries — one Democratic, one Republican. That’s 400 possible primaries.
This September, only 42 of them were contested. The other 90% had only one candidate on the ballot.
Sitting legislators are the safest of all. In 2024, just 18 of the 181 incumbents running for re-election faced a primary challenger. That’s about 10%. Between 2010 and 2022, the average was 10.6%. This isn’t a one-year blip.
That same year, Massachusetts had the fewest contested legislative primaries, and the fewest candidates, since Ballotpedia started counting in 2010.
Think about what that means for someone who wants to run. If you’re in the same party as the incumbent — and in most of Massachusetts, you are — you have one path: beat them in a low-turnout, low-attention September primary, when only one in five voters shows up. Lose and you’re out of the race entirely. Many would-be challengers — talented people without name recognition — look at those odds and don’t run at all.
In states with all-party primaries, incumbents get challenged
Washington and California use all-party primaries. One ballot, with every candidate on it. Every voter can vote. The top two vote-getters go to November, no matter their party.
Ballotpedia tracks how many sitting legislators face a contested primary each election. Here is 2024:
| Incumbents who faced a contested primary, 2024 | |
|---|---|
| Massachusetts | 10% |
| National average | 22% |
| Washington — all-party primaries since 2008 | 25% |
| California — all-party primaries since 2012 | 41% |
Sources: Ballotpedia — Massachusetts, national, Washington, California. Full citations below.
One note on the numbers: in Washington and California, Ballotpedia only counts a primary as contested when three or more people run, because the top two advance. In Massachusetts, two is enough. The bar is higher for the all-party states — and the gap is still wide.
Why the difference?
Under party primaries, a challenger from the incumbent’s own party has to win a low-turnout September primary, where the incumbent has a major advantage. If they lose, they go home.
Under all-party primaries, finishing second still gets you to November and in front of the full electorate. That changes the math for anyone thinking about running. You don’t have to beat the incumbent in September, in front of one in five voters. You just have to finish in the top two — and then you get to make your case to the whole district in November, when one in two voters shows up. That makes running — and taking on an entrenched incumbent — a much better bet for a first-time candidate without a big name.
California is the test case. In 2010, its last election under party primaries, 6 of 62 sitting legislators faced a contested primary. That’s about 10% — the same as Massachusetts today. In 2012, the first election under all-party primaries, it was 22 of 56. That’s 39%. Same state, new rules.
A peer-reviewed study compared California’s five elections before the change with its first five after. It found the increase in competition “substantial” — and that the real competition moved to November, where turnout is highest.
What Question 3 does
Question 3 brings all-party primaries to Massachusetts. One primary ballot with every candidate on it. Every voter can vote. The top two go to November.
That means a challenger doesn’t have to win in September to be heard in November.
That means incumbents have to earn their seat in front of the whole district — including the two-thirds of Massachusetts voters who aren’t enrolled in either party.
That means more people run, more races are contested, and more of us get a real choice on Election Day.
Related: Why Beacon Hill doesn’t look like Massachusetts · What Question 3 does
The numbers
| State and year | Incumbents running | In contested primaries | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts, 2024 | 181 | 18 | 9.9% |
| Massachusetts, 2010–2022 average | 180 | 19.1 | 10.6% |
| National, 2024 | 4,848 | 1,050 | 22% |
| Washington, 2024 | 97 | 24 | 24.7% |
| California, 2010 (last year of party primaries) | 62 | 6 | 9.7% |
| California, 2012 (first year of all-party primaries) | 56 | 22 | 39.3% |
| California, 2024 | 66 | 27 | 40.9% |
Source: Ballotpedia — Massachusetts, national, and its 2010–2024 incumbent tables for Massachusetts, Washington and California.
In Washington and California, Ballotpedia counts a primary as contested only when three or more candidates run, since the top two advance. In Massachusetts, two is enough.
Sources
- Ballotpedia, “Fewest ever contested state legislative primaries in Massachusetts,” July 3, 2024.
- Ballotpedia, “First time since 2010 that a state has over 65% of its incumbents contested in primaries,” Aug. 22, 2024.
- Ballotpedia, “Washington’s 2024 state legislative primary elections: What to know,” May 31, 2024.
- Ballotpedia, “33% of Washington state legislative incumbents face contested top-two primaries,” Aug. 1, 2022.
- Ballotpedia, “Second-highest number of contested state legislative primaries in California since 2014,” Feb. 28, 2024.
- Ballotpedia, “Incumbents defeated in state legislative elections, 2024,” California and Washington primary tables, 2010–2024.
- Ballotpedia, “Annual State Legislative Competitiveness Report: Vol. 14, 2024.”
- Washington Secretary of State, “Washington’s top-two primary: What it is and how it works.”
- California Secretary of State, “Primary Elections in California.”
- Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, certified candidate lists for the Sept. 1, 2026 Democratic and Republican state primaries.
- Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Voter Turnout Statistics.
- Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Registration Statistics, September 2026.
- J. Andrew Sinclair, Ian O’Grady, Bryn Miller and Catherine M. Murphy, “Participation and Competition in Top-Two Elections: Trade-Offs in Election Reform,” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 26, no. 1 (2026): 103–115. Published online Oct. 20, 2025.
