Massachusetts local elections 2025: Where and when to vote in Tuesday’s preliminaries
Boston's high-profile and hugely expensive preliminary mayoral election may be in the books, but there's still plenty of political drama left to go this campaign season.
Voters in 18 Massachusetts cities and towns head to the polls on Tuesday to vote in a battery of preliminary elections for mayoral and city council races.
First up, here's the full list of where those races are taking place, according to Secretary of State William Galvin's office .
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Chelsea (District 4 only)
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Framingham (District 2 only)
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Holyoke (Wards 1 and 5 only)
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Leominster (Ward 5 only)
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Malden (Wards 4 and 6 only)
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Methuen (Central District only)
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Newburyport (Ward 6 only)
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Revere (Ward 1 only)
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Salem (Wards 1, 2, 5, and 6 only)
In nearly all cases, the polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday (though hours may vary in some communities, so check with your local elections office).
You can find your local polling place here , and you can look up your voter registration status here . Both resources are on the Secretary of State's website.
And here's a look at some of the key contests around the state:
Somerville
The fight for the Mayor's Office is the contest worth watching in this progressive stronghold across the Charles River.
Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, a two-term incumbent , faces two challengers: Jake Wilson and Willie Burnley Jr. , who both are at-large members of the City Council.
Ballantyne, 63, is focusing on her achievements since taking office in 2022, pointing to successes in housing and fiscal reform, according to The Tufts Daily , the student newspaper at Tufts University.
"I'll focus on continuing the momentum and the progress that I built in my first three years," Ballantyne told the newspaper. "My leadership is making Somerville more affordable and equitable."
In an interview with The Boston Globe , Wilson emphasized his management experience, telling the newspaper he wants to focus on improving city services.
"The big, overarching thing I want to do is get our city services up to the level that the City of Somerville should be providing," he told the newspaper. "That will allow us to achieve policy gains where we are facing multiple crises: Our housing crisis, the crisis of street safety, and the rodent issues we have in the city that really impact people's lives."
Burnley, who is aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America, is the youngest candidate in the race, according to The Globe. The only renter in the race, he has focused on such issues as surveillance and brokers' fees.
"I have friends who moved to Boston because it's cheaper than Somerville, which is unprecedented," Burnley, 31, told the newspaper. "So for me, this race is about: How do we build that community that we all know Somerville can be and historically has been, and what are the tools that we're going to implement to do that?"
Fall River
Incumbent Mayor Paul E. Coogan, who just steered this South Coast city through the tragic fire at Gabriel House , is seeking reelection. His challengers on Tuesday include Gabriel "Boomer" Amaral, Carlos Cesar, Christopher Silvia and Michael J. Vandal.
Coogan, who's seeking a fourth term, has touted the drop in the local unemployment rate and the growth of the city's business community on his watch.
The three challengers, meanwhile, said at a forum in August that they're not happy with the city's recent direction, according to the local Fall River Herald News .
Cesar, who formerly served as the president of the Flint Neighborhood Association, said he wants to see the neighborhood rebound.
"We have some buildings that are finally getting into new hands. The problem I have is it's going to market-rate housing ," he said, according to the Herald News.
Amaral offered a similar sentiment.
"Either you're going to fix it, or we're going to find a way to take it from you and fix it ourselves," he said, according to the newspaper. "We spend so much time trying to over-regulate small businesses … but we're ignoring the real problem here, which is all of the vacancies, all the dilapidated buildings, the dangers that are there."
Silvia, a local café owner, stressed the need for the city to be friendlier to small businesses.
"As someone who's opened a small business, it took me seven months and 34 trips to city hall," he said, according to the Herald-News. "I think we need to fast-track small businesses. … It's not like we don't have the real estate. We have plenty of abandoned storefronts, yet people are afraid to open small business because it's overwhelming."
Northampton
You definitely can't tell the players without a scorecard in Tuesday's preliminary election for this Western Massachusetts community.
That's because a total of 45 candidates are vying for offices that include mayor, city council, school committee and other posts, MassLive previously reported .
City Clerk Pamela Powers said that it is the highest number of candidates since 2011, when she began working in the clerk's office.
"I think a lot of folks are very vocal in the city's budget this year, more so than I've seen in the past," Powers told MassLive. "That has brought a lot of people to the table to discuss potential opportunities for how to spend the city's money."
Controversies around the budget have largely focused on the Northampton Public Schools budget.
While some money has been restored into the district, groups including Support Our Schools and Services Political Action Committee have been advocating for greater school spending to help restore staff positions and service cuts.
Debate over Northampton's Picture Main Street may also be a motivator for voters and candidates alike. The project aims to redesign the community's downtown business district.
Methuen
On Tuesday, voters will narrow a field of six candidates to four for two seats on the Central District City Council in this Essex County community.
Voting runs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Timony Grammar School, 45 Pleasant View St., according to the Eagle-Tribune.
The candidates are: Sharon Birchall, Stephen Jude, Gillis Yanilda Santos, Derrick A. Jones, Ella Paige Maclaren, and LouAnn Alana Santos.
You can learn more about the candidates here .
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