Most South Shore State Legislative Seats Will Be Contested This Fall
May 30 - Voters across the South Shore will face real choices in nearly every state legislative race this November, according to unofficial candidate filing data obtained from the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Elections Division. Of the fourteen State House districts and four State Senate districts that cover communities in the South Shore News area, ten House seats and two Senate seats drew challengers — leaving four House incumbents running without opposition and two Senate incumbents unchallenged heading into the general election. The challenger field includes several current and former local elected officials making the jump to state-level races.
The Full Story
The filing period for the 2026 Massachusetts general election has closed, and the unofficial candidate list from the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Elections Division offers the first clear picture of which South Shore legislative races will be competitive this fall — and which incumbents will coast to reelection.
The news is largely good for voters who want a choice on the ballot. Across fourteen State House districts and four State Senate districts serving South Shore News communities — including Abington, Brockton, Bridgewater, Carver, Cohasset, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Hingham, Hull, Kingston, Marshfield, Middleborough, Norwell, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Rockland, Scituate, Weymouth, and Whitman — only four House and two Senate incumbents face no challengers at all.
Several of this cycle’s challengers arrive with local government credentials, and at least three of the House matchups are rematches of recent races.
State Senate: Two Districts Contested, Two Not
Four State Senate districts serve South Shore communities. Two incumbents will run unopposed.
Sen. Michael D. Brady (D-Second Plymouth & Norfolk), whose district includes Whitman, Hanson, Halifax, East Bridgewater, and Brockton, filed for reelection with no challenger. Brady has held the seat since 2012.
Sen. Patrick M. O’Connor (R-First Plymouth & Norfolk), whose district covers the coastal communities of Cohasset, Duxbury, Hingham, Hull, Marshfield, Norwell, Scituate, and Weymouth, also filed without opposition. O’Connor has represented the district since 2015.
Two other Senate districts that touch the South Shore will be contested.
Sen. Dylan A. Fernandes (D-Plymouth & Barnstable) faces Republican challenger Kari Della MacRae, a Bourne School Committee member. The district covers Kingston, Pembroke, Plymouth, and Plympton on the South Shore side, along with Bourne, Falmouth, Mashpee, and Sandwich on Cape Cod. MacRae has run for this seat before — she sought the Republican nomination in 2024 but lost a close primary to state Rep. Matt Muratore, who went on to lose to Fernandes in the general election. MacRae also ran as the Republican nominee against then-incumbent Sen. Susan Moran in 2022. This would be her first general election matchup against Fernandes directly.
Sen. John F. Keenan (D-Norfolk & Plymouth), whose district includes Abington and Rockland among others, drew an independent challenger: Alexander Mendez. Keenan has held the seat since 2011.
State House: Ten of Fourteen Districts See Competition
The State House picture is markedly more competitive. Of fourteen House districts covering South Shore communities, ten have at least two candidates on the ballot. Four incumbents will be returned without a contest.
Rep. Joan Meschino (D-Third Plymouth, covering Cohasset, Hingham, and Hull) filed for reelection with no challenger.
Rep. Rita A. Mendes (D-Eleventh Plymouth, covering portions of Brockton) filed for reelection with no challenger as of the filing deadline, per the unofficial list.
House Speaker Ronald Mariano (D-Third Norfolk), whose district covers portions of Weymouth along with Holbrook precincts and parts of Quincy, also filed without opposition. Mariano, first elected in a 1991 special election, has served as Speaker since 2020 and has said he intends to seek another term as Speaker if reelected.
Rep. James Murphy (D-Fourth Norfolk, covering other portions of Weymouth) also filed without opposition. Murphy has held his seat since 2001 and is one of the longest-serving representatives in the South Shore delegation.
Every other incumbent in the coverage area faces at least one opponent. Several of those races carry particular local resonance:
Rep. David F. DeCoste (R-Fifth Plymouth, covering Hanover, Norwell, Rockland, and parts of Hanson) faces Democrat Lori Childs, who currently serves as Vice Chair of the Rockland Select Board. Childs would be stepping directly from local elected office to a state House campaign.
Rep. Alyson M. Sullivan-Almeida (R-Seventh Plymouth, covering Abington, Whitman, and portions of East Bridgewater) faces Democrat Rosemary Aahanna-Hill, a member of the Whitman-Hanson Regional School Committee. Aahanna-Hill was elected to the school committee as Rosemary Connolly.
Rep. Kenneth Peter Sweezey (R-Sixth Plymouth, covering Duxbury and portions of Halifax, Hanson, Marshfield, and Pembroke) faces Democrat Jessica Bradley Rushing, a former Pembroke Select Board member.
Three races appear to be rematches of recent contests. Rep. Kathleen LaNatra (D-Twelfth Plymouth), whose district includes Kingston and Plympton and portions of Plymouth, Pembroke, Halifax, and Middleborough, faces Republican Eric J. Meschino — a confirmed rematch from 2024.
Rep. Bridget Marie Plouffe (D-Ninth Plymouth, covering portions of Brockton) faces Republican Lawrence Peter Novak, who ran against Plouffe in 2024 and previously challenged then-incumbent Gerry Cassidy in 2022. MacRae’s return in the Senate race adds a third rematch dynamic to the South Shore ballot.
The remaining contested House races round out a busy November ballot:
Rep. Michelle L. Badger (D-First Plymouth, covering portions of Plymouth) will face Republican challenger David Golden, Jr., a Plymouth Select Board member.
The Second Plymouth district, which covers other Plymouth precincts along with Carver and portions of Middleborough, features a three-way general election field. Incumbent Rep. John Robert Gaskey (R) faces both Republican Mark E. Townsend and Democrat Sarah G. Hewins.
Rep. Patrick Joseph Kearney (D-Fourth Plymouth, covering Marshfield, most of Scituate, and portions of Norwell) faces Democrat Kathleen Ann Baxter in another same-party general election matchup pending primary resolution.
Rep. Dennis C. Gallagher (D-Eighth Plymouth, covering Bridgewater and Raynham) faces Republican John Edward Norris, a former Bridgewater Town Councilor. Gallagher flipped this seat in 2024, defeating Republican Sandra Wright to become the first Democrat to hold the district since 2010. Norris’s local government background gives the challenge credibility in a district that spent over a decade in Republican hands.
Rep. Michelle Marie DuBois (D-Tenth Plymouth, covering portions of Brockton, East Bridgewater, and West Bridgewater) faces Democrat Tony Andrade Rodrigues, a Brockton School Committee member, in a same-party matchup.
South Shore More Competitive Than the State at Large
The unofficial filing data tells a broader story about the South Shore’s political landscape: this region is fielding genuine two-party competition at a rate well above the Massachusetts norm.
Statewide, Republicans filed in just 46 of 160 State House districts — 28.7 percent of seats. On the South Shore, Republicans are on the ballot in 8 of 14 relevant House races, or 57 percent. The gap in the State Senate is similar: Republicans are running in only 11 of 40 Senate districts across Massachusetts (27.5 percent), but two of the four Senate districts serving South Shore communities have a Republican in the race.
Put another way, a Republican challenger is more than twice as likely to appear on a South Shore legislative ballot as on a typical Massachusetts ballot. That reflects the region’s mix of suburban and semi-rural communities, a Republican incumbent in O’Connor’s coastal Senate district, and several House seats held by Republicans who regularly face Democratic challengers — the inverse of the pattern that dominates most of the state.
The statewide filing data also underscores how dominant same-party competition has become across Massachusetts. Of 160 House districts, 122 feature multiple candidates from a single party — meaning most Massachusetts legislative races will effectively be decided in a primary, not a general election. On the South Shore, eight of the ten contested House districts feature cross-party matchups, giving general election voters a clearer partisan choice than most of their counterparts across the commonwealth.
A Note on the Filing Data
The candidate list released by the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Elections Division is unofficial and reflects filings as of the close of the nomination period. Candidates can still be removed from the ballot through the certification and challenge process. Same-party general election matchups listed above — in the Second, Fourth, and Tenth Plymouth districts — may be resolved before November if those races go to a primary. South Shore News will update coverage as the ballot is certified.
Why It Matters
State legislators hold direct influence over the policy levers that dominate South Shore town meetings and select board agendas: Chapter 70 school funding formulas, special education reimbursements, pension and healthcare policy, and MBTA Communities compliance. With multiple South Shore communities navigating budget crises this spring — and override votes either passed or pending in several towns — who represents the region on Beacon Hill carries concrete consequences for local budgets and services. Residents across the coverage area will have real choices to make in November in almost every district.
South Shore Legislative Races at a Glance
State Senate
First Plymouth & Norfolk: Patrick M. O’Connor (R-incumbent) — UNCONTESTED
Second Plymouth & Norfolk: Michael D. Brady (D-incumbent) — UNCONTESTED
Plymouth & Barnstable: Dylan A. Fernandes (D-incumbent) vs. Kari Della MacRae (R, Bourne School Committee) — CONTESTED
Norfolk & Plymouth: John F. Keenan (D-incumbent) vs. Alexander Mendez (Independent) — CONTESTED
State House
First Plymouth: Michelle L. Badger (D-incumbent) vs. David Michael Golden, Jr. (R, Plymouth Select Board) — CONTESTED
Second Plymouth: John Robert Gaskey (R-incumbent) vs. Mark E. Townsend (R), Sarah G. Hewins (D) — CONTESTED (3-way)
Third Plymouth: Joan Meschino (D-incumbent) — UNCONTESTED
Third Norfolk: Ronald Mariano (D-incumbent, House Speaker) — UNCONTESTED
Fourth Norfolk: James Murphy (D-incumbent) — UNCONTESTED
Fourth Plymouth: Patrick Joseph Kearney (D-incumbent) vs. Kathleen Ann Baxter (D) — CONTESTED
Fifth Plymouth: David F. DeCoste (R-incumbent) vs. Lori Childs (D, Rockland Select Board Vice Chair) — CONTESTED
Sixth Plymouth: Kenneth Peter Sweezey (R-incumbent) vs. Jessica Bradley Rushing (D, former Pembroke Select Board) — CONTESTED
Seventh Plymouth: Alyson M. Sullivan-Almeida (R-incumbent) vs. Rosemary Aahanna-Hill (D, Whitman-Hanson Regional School Committee) — CONTESTED
Eighth Plymouth: Dennis C. Gallagher (D-incumbent) vs. John Edward Norris (R) — CONTESTED
Ninth Plymouth: Bridget Marie Plouffe (D-incumbent) vs. Lawrence Peter Novak (R) — CONTESTED (rematch)
Tenth Plymouth: Michelle Marie DuBois (D-incumbent) vs. Tony Andrade Rodrigues (D, Brockton School Committee) — CONTESTED
Eleventh Plymouth: Rita A. Mendes (D-incumbent) — UNCONTESTED (per unofficial filing list)
Twelfth Plymouth: Kathleen LaNatra (D-incumbent) vs. Eric J. Meschino (R) — CONTESTED (rematch)
Source: Unofficial District/County Candidate List, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Elections Division. District boundaries reflect 2022 redistricting. Data is unofficial and subject to change through the ballot certification process. Challenger affiliations based on South Shore News reporting and public records.