Voters will begin narrowing the fields for statewide offices and a handful of more local positions when early in-person voting begins today in advance of the Sept. 6 primary election.
While voters across Massachusetts will decide on the candidates who will compete in the general election for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general and auditor, among other offices, there are also races specific to the region, including four Democrats running for the 8th District seat on the Governor’s Council.
Democrats, Republicans and unenrolled voters will be able to participate in early voting, with many communities offering the option through Sept. 2, though in some towns it will be for a shorter duration.
Today is also the final day for residents to register to vote in the primary.
The 8th District of the Governor’s Council has four candidates on the Democratic side: Jeffrey Morneau of Longmeadow, Tara Jacobs of North Adams, Michael Fenton of Springfield and Shawn Allyn of Agawam. The winner looks to succeed Mary Hurley, also a Democrat, in the position, and will go on to face John Comerford of Palmer, a Republican, in the general election.
In the 7th Hampden District, covering the Franklin County towns of New Salem, Wendell and Shutesbury, Democrat Aaron Saunders and Republican James “Chip” Harrington are unopposed in the primary and are expected to face off in the general election to take over the seat of current Rep. Jacob Oliveira.
In a state Senate race, voters in the Berkshire, Hampden, Franklin and Hampshire District will have a choice between Democrats Paul Mark, a current state representative, and Huff Tyler Templeton III, a former Williamstown School Committee member.
The state’s 2nd Congressional District features no primary challengers for incumbent U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, or Republican Jeffrey Sossa-Paquette. The general election will likely see Sossa-Paquette looking to unseat McGovern.
Incumbent Democratic state Sen. Jo Comerford, representing the Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester District, and state Rep. Natalie Blais, representing the 1st Franklin District, face no primary challengers. Both are expected to run unopposed in the general election.
Franklin County Sheriff Christopher Donelan and Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan, both Democrats, are expected to run unopposed in the general election. Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis , a former Holden Republican lawmaker, will face Paxton Democrat David Fontaine in the November election.
Statewide, the Republican ballot includes contests for governor between businessman Chris Doughty and former state Rep. Geoff Diehl, and for lieutenant governor between former state Reps. Kate Campanale and Leah Allen.
But it is on the Democratic side where several races will be decided, even after Sonia Chang-Diaz has dropped out of the governor’s race and cleared the way for Attorney General Maura Healey to claim the nomination.
Those contests are for lieutenant governor between state Sen. Eric Lesser, state Rep. Tami Gouveia and Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll; for secretary of state, where incumbent William Galvin is facing a challenge from Tanisha Sullivan, president of the Boston chapter of the NAACP; and for auditor, between transportation advocate Christopher Dempsey and state Sen. Diana DiZoglio.
There is also a contest to succeed Healey as attorney general between U.S. Department of Commerce attorney Quentin Palfrey, labor attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan, and lawyer and former Boston councilor Andrea Campbell.
■Athol: Town Hall, 584 Main St. Saturday, Aug. 27, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, Aug. 29, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday, Aug. 30, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesday, Aug. 31, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, Sept. 1, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday, Sept. 2, from 8 a.m. to noon.
■Orange: Town Hall, 6 Prospect St. — Saturday, Aug. 27, 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday, Aug. 29, and Tuesday, Aug. 30, 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 31, 8 a.m. and noon and 1 to 7 p.m., and Thursday, Sept. 1, 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4:30 p.m.
■Wendell: Town Office building, 9 Morse Village Road Saturday, Aug. 27, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Friday, Sept. 2, 3 to 5 p.m.
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.