Beacon Hill lawmakers face little competition. But there are some races to watch

The Massachusetts Legislature's infighting, procrastination and failures have been in the spotlight for the past month after lawmakers ostensibly shifted into campaign mode. But there won't be many options at the ballot box to make changes on Beacon Hill.

Voters in only 26 House districts and six Senate districts will encounter any kind of contested primary election on Sept. 3 — even though all 160 House districts and 40 Senate districts are up for reelection every two years.

The overall trend suggests few people who are not already on Beacon Hill are interested in serving in the Legislature, though there are a few open seats and challenges that are drawing some interest.

Here's a closer look at some of the races:

By the time polls close on Tuesday night, Massachusetts voters will have selected at least six legislators, due in part to the lack of competition.

Orleans resident Hadley Luddy, who leads the Homeless Prevention Council, is the only candidate on the ballot; Democratic state Rep. Sarah Peake of Provincetown is retiring after 18 years.

Easthampton City Council President Homar Gomez alone filed signatures to run for the Second Hampshire District, which state Rep. Daniel Carey, a fellow Democrat from Easthampton, will give up to run for Hampshire County clerk of courts.

Democrats Arielle Reid Faria of West Tisbury, and Thomas Moakley of Falmouth are facing off for the open House seat representing Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and Falmouth in the wake of state Rep. Dylan Fernandes' decision to run for state Senate. The winner will likely take on the role since no Republicans have mounted a bid.

A north-of-Boston district represented by outgoing state Rep. Peter Capano of Lynn will also be decided in September in a race between Democrats Hong Net of Lynn and Sean Reid of Lynn.

In Newton and Brookline, longtime state Rep. Ruth Balser is retiring. Voters will decide a competitive three-way primary between Bill Humphrey, Rick Lipof and Greg Schwartz. The race has a distinct Newton City Council flavor: Humphrey and Lipof are both currently on the council, and Schwartz is a former member.

South of Boston, Sen. Walter Timilty of Milton is leaving the Senate to challenge for the Norfolk County clerk of courts job his father previously held, and there are only Democrats on the ballot to succeed him: state Rep. Bill Driscoll of Milton, Kathleen Crogan-Camara of Randolph and Erin Bradley of Milton.

There are more than a dozen other open State House primaries, where voters will get to narrow the field before a matchup in November. Here are a few to pay attention to:

In one case, tens of thousands of people will regain representation in the new year after months without it. Former state Rep. Josh Cutler had represented the 6th Plymouth District until he resigned in February for a job in Gov. Maura's Healey administration, and top House Democrats opted not to schedule a mid-term special election to fill the seat.

Republican candidates Jane Cournan and Kenneth Sweezey, both of Pembroke, are running in the primary for Cutler's old seat. The winner will face Democrat Rebecca Coletta, also of Pembroke, in November.

Down in southeastern Massachusetts, the question looms: Should the Senate seat remain held by a Pacheco?

State Sen. Marc Pacheco of Taunton, the longest continually serving member of the chamber, is departing after 31 years in office. Two Democrats are on the ballot for his seat: longtime Raynham Selectman Joseph Pacheco — who reportedly has no relation to the outgoing senator — and Taunton City Councilor Barry Sanders. The winner of the primary will go on to face Taunton City Councilor Kelly Dooner, a Republican who unsuccessfully challenged for the House in 2020, and unenrolled candidate James Dupont of Raynham, in the general election.

Then there's Democratic state Sen. Susan Moran of Falmouth, who is giving up her Plymouth and Barnstable seat to run for Barnstable County Superior Court clerk, leaving one of the most competitive Senate districts up for grabs.

On the Democratic side, Rep. Fernandes faces no opponent in his bid to move up a chamber.

Meanwhile, a pair of Republicans are vying to face him in the general election: state Rep. Mathew Muratore of Plymouth, who is serving his fifth term in the House, and Kari MacRae of Bourne. MacRae, who worked as a financial banking manager and small business owner, is a member of Bourne's School Committee. She was fired from a job teaching at Hanover High School in 2021 over TikTok videos she previously posted commenting on topics such as critical race theory and gender identity. A federal appeals court last month ruled that MacRae's termination was valid.

Other races this fall will give hundreds of thousands of Bay Staters their first new state rep since Bill Clinton was president.

State Rep. William Straus of Mattapoisett is retiring after 31 years. Two Republicans, Robert McConnell of Fairhaven and Joseph Pires of Rochester, will duke it out Tuesday to face Democrat Mark Sylvia of Fairhaven in the general election for that seat.

Newton state Rep. Kay Khan, the eldest member of the Legislature who has been in the House since 1995, is also leaving. A pair of Democrats, Alexander Jablon and Amy Mah Sangiolo, are running for her Newton-only seat, as is Republican Vladislav Yanovsky.

There's something the First Plymouth District has that 199 other state legislative districts do not: competitive primaries on both sides.

As Muratore gives up the seat to run for Senate, voters who take either primary ballot will have multiple options — all from Plymouth. Four Democrats — Michelle Badger, Arthur Desloges, Scott Hokanson and Stephen Michael Palmer -- are running, as are Republicans Jesse Brown and Dee Wallace Spencer.

Sitting lawmakers who want another two-year term more often than not cruise to reelection without breaking a sweat — or even facing a single opponent — but there are pockets of competition.

For incumbent Democrats, much of the primary action is concentrated in Boston or its western and northern suburbs. Fifteen state representatives in total face primary challengers, eight of which are in Middlesex County and two more of which are in Suffolk County.

One contest on Tuesday will be a rematch. Former Democrat state Rep. Marcos Devers of Lawrence is challenging first-term Methuen state Rep. Francisco Paulino, who two years ago unseated Devers in the primary with nearly 53% of the vote. There are no Republican or third-party candidates on the ballot, so whoever emerges victorious is a virtual lock for the seat.

If Devers wins, it will clear the way for his third separate stretch in the Legislature. The Democrat was first elected in a special election in 2010, then lost a 2016 primary against former state Rep. Juana Matias. When Matias decided to run for Congress in 2018, Devers won back his seat and held it until he was defeated by Paulino.

For the third straight cycle, Medford Democrat state Rep. Paul Donato faces a primary challenge from Nichole Dawn Mossalam of Malden. Zayda Ortiz of Malden also jumped into the race this time around.

Donato defeated Mossalam in each of the prior two cycles, but the challenger closed the gap significantly: in 2020, Donato won by about 11 points, and in 2022, his margin was less than a percentage point, or only 50 votes.

One seemingly heated race is for the Cambridge district held by Democrat state Rep. Marjorie Decker. Challenger Evan MacKay, who describes themself as a union leader and a Harvard teaching fellow, has not been shy about criticizing "dysfunction" on Beacon Hill nor Decker herself. Decker might point to a recent legislative win as she tries to bolster her case to voters. She was the lead House negotiator on a maternal health improvement bill that Gov. Maura Healey signed into law last Friday.

State Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven, who has served two terms, is facing a challenge from Kathleen Hornby, who worked as a legislative aide for Decker.

Both progressives, Uyterhoeven and Hornby don't offer much distinction between where they stand on issues. Hornby has made her campaign about getting more done for the district.

With reporting from State House News Service's Chris Lisinski, WBUR's Katie Cole and Nik DeCosta-Klipa