Massachusetts voters reject ballot measure eliminating jungle primaries

A ballot measure that would have eliminated party primary elections from being held in Massachusetts is projected to fail, according to preliminary results from Decision Desk HQ.

Question 3 would have allowed candidates from all parties to appear on the primary ballot, with the top two candidates advancing to the general election based on primary results. Approving Question 3 would have opened up the possibility that two candidates from the same party could run against each other in the general election.

About 61 percent of voters opposed the measure, with 69 percent of the vote reported as of early Wednesday.

Question 3’s supporters include the NAACP of New England and a bipartisan coalition of mayors, progressive groups and Republicans, Boston-based NPR affiliate WBUR reported . But it similarly received opposition from bipartisan groups, including several unions and state Republican Party and Democratic Party officials.

The measure received financial funding from the Coalition for Healthy Democracy 2026 , which channeled $4 million into the campaign, the most of any ballot question on the Bay State’s ballot during this election cycle, Boston radio station WGBH reported .

Other supporters included former Massachusetts Govs. Charlie Baker (R) and Deval Patrick (D) and Joshua Bekenstein, a co-founder of the venture capital firm Bain Capital, who contributed $500,000.

Those who funded the opposing campaign included Voter Rights MA, the Massachusetts Democratic Party State Committee and the union SEIU 1099, which spent $100,000 against Question 3.

Massachusetts adopted partisan primaries in 1911, changing the practice of the time in which political parties controlled how candidates were nominated to represent the party in elections, according to Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin’s (D) office.

Massachusetts joins California and Washington as the only three states to allow jungle primaries for statewide offices and congressional races.