As voters head to the polls today in Massachusetts, there are a number of key primaries to watch out for. In an interview with Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel, Stephanie Murray, a reporter for Politico who writes the Massachusetts Playbook newsletter, outlined four races to keep an eye on, including the hotly contested Senate primary and a few congressional matchups of note.

Senate showdown: Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) gave up his seat in the state’s 4th congressional district to run against incumbent Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA). Though polling initially indicated Kennedy was the frontrunner, Markey has caught up as progressive heavyweights have rallied to his side. A recent JI poll found Markey leading Kennedy by four points with 48% of the vote in Kennedy’s home district. “This race, to me, is a chance to test whether progressives can protect an incumbent in the same kind of powerful way that they can unseat an incumbent,” Murray mused, alluding to some of the races this cycle in which veteran politicians such as Reps. Eliot Engel (D-NY), Lacy Clay (D-MO) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL) have been unseated by younger, left-leaning challengers. 

1st district: In this district in western Massachusetts, Alex Morse, the 31-year-old mayor of Holyoke, earned an endorsement from Justice Democrats in his race against Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA), chair of the Ways and Means Committee. “This is the best example, in Massachusetts, of where progressive groups are trying to flex their muscles and replicate something that we've seen across the country in the last two election cycles,” Murray told JI. A Jewish Insider poll last week had Neal up nine points at 49% to Morse at 40%.

4th district: Kennedy’s current district has attracted a wide variety of candidates who are vying for the chance to replace him in Congress. “This is a rare opportunity in Massachusetts, an open House seat, which is why so many people are running for it,” Murray said. The frontrunners in the crowded race include Newton City Councilors Jake Auchincloss, former Brookline select board member Jesse Mermell and Becky Grossman. A JI poll found that Auchincloss and Mermell were in a statistical tie for first among voters surveyed, while Grossman ranked third with 15% of the vote. Murray cautions the primary could go to a recount because there are so many people running, which could stretch the election out for a couple of weeks. 

8th district: Boston physician Robbie Goldstein is taking on incumbent Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) in this matchup. Though the race hasn’t been as closely watched as others in the state, “this is another example of a more progressive Democrat trying to knock out a more moderate member of the party who has some clout in Congress and has been there for a long time,” according to Murray. Goldstein, an infectious disease specialist who worked in a coronavirus intensive care unit this spring, has gotten support from progressives on the local and national level. “But I think it's going to be tough for him because there's so much attention on these other races,” Murray said.

Read the full preview of today’s races here.