Massachusetts Senate Special Election

Blue Mass. Group has been doing a good job following the special election to be held in the Second Middlesex District (the City of Medford, the Town of Winchester, and parts of the Cities of Somerville and Woburn) of the Massachusetts State Senate to choose a successor to the late Senator Charles E. Shannon (D - Winchester), who died on April 5.

The special primary is to take place on August 30 and the special general election is to take place on September 27. The cities of Medford, Somerville, and Woburn also hold municipal elections in the fall. It seems to me that it would have made sense to hold the special general election at the same time as the municipal elections on November 8. I am not an expert in Massachusetts election law; it's possible that there is a legal impediment to holding a special state election simultaneous with local elections, but if not, holding the elections at the same time would have increased turnout and reduced expense in the cities that have the vast majority of the District's voters. (The Town of Winchester would not have benefited; unlike cities, which hold their local elections biennially in the fall, Massachusetts towns hold their elections annually in the spring.)

I also wonder at scheduling the special primary before Labor Day. In this heavily Democratic district, much of the action - if not all of it - will be in the primary. An August 30 election date does not seem designed to maximize turnout.