Your Massachusetts midterm rundown

WITH ELECTION DAY upon us on Tuesday, voters here in Massachusetts and around the country are preparing to cast their ballots in the 2026 midterms.

Nationally, much of the focus will be on whether – and at what scale – Democrats are able to translate President Trump’s unpopularity and voters’ economic angst into a congressional majority that breaks the GOP trifecta in Washington.

In the Bay State, the stakes are a bit different. Democrats already control Beacon Hill with supermajorities, and the state’s congressional delegation is already entirely blue. That dynamic is not expected to change after November 3.

Still, Gov. Maura Healey and US Sen. Ed Markey are looking to secure convincing reelection victories as residents grapple with significant cost-of-living concerns. Plus, Massachusetts voters will be asked to decide a record-tying nine ballot questions on policy areas ranging from tax policy to marijuana legalization to how the state should administer elections.

Steve Koczela, president of the MassINC Polling Group, and Chris Borick, a professor of political science at Lehigh University and director of Lehigh’s Opinion Observatory, joined CommonWealth Beacon senior reporter Jordan Wolman on The Codcast to preview the political landscape ahead of Election Day.

“The expectations are now really high for Democrats,” Borick said. “And I understand why. A bunch of metrics point in the direction of a really special environment that they’re in politically. From a Republican perspective, I don’t think the word toxic is an overstatement.”

On this episode, Borick and Koczela discuss whether the Democrats could really turn states like Texas and Alaska blue (2:23), how Massachusetts voters are thinking about the nine ballot questions they’ll decide (7:00), and what it will take for the state GOP to become competitive again (18:25).