Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch has defeated a younger, more progressive primary challenger, NBC News projects, in the highest-profile test remaining for House incumbents after a turbulent primary season.
Lynch, 71, won renomination over Patrick Roath, a 39-year-old former aide to former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. With his win, Lynch staved off an attempt to add him to the list of Democratic officeholders dethroned by rivals pushing for generational change.
Elsewhere in the state, fellow veteran Democratic Rep. Richard Neal also secured renomination, defeating teacher Jeromie Whalen in another Democratic primary.
On the other side of Massachusetts, Roath outraised Lynch, outspent him significantly on the airwaves and scored The Boston Globe editorial board’s endorsement to go with backing from Patrick, progressive activist David Hogg’s group, Leaders We Deserve, and key teachers unions.
That support helped Roath press Lynch for months in one of the toughest fights of his political career. He highlighted Lynch’s various breaks with his party in the past, including votes against the Affordable Care Act and, more recently, for the Laken Riley Act. Roath also called for progressive measures like “Medicare for All,” abolishing ICE and restricting military aid to Israel.
But Lynch persevered, trumpeting work that he says held the Trump administration accountable and leaning on his decades of experience, including deep relationships with unions and other fixtures in the district.
“I got to know this district by living here and regularly attending hundreds of town meetings, not just to speak, but to listen and understand the needs and priorities of the people that I represent,” Lynch said at an August forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters Hingham and others.
He touted “tens of billions of dollars that I’ve been able to bring back to our district” and added that he “accomplished much of that as a member of the minority party in Congress. You can only imagine what we can do together if the situation changes.”
Lynch’s victory means he has avoided the fate of 11 of his House colleagues — including seven Democrats — who lost primary challenges this year as voters took some of their frustrations with Washington out on incumbent lawmakers. Another two senators, both Republicans whose primary opponents got Trump endorsements, also lost primaries this year.
Neal also avoided defeat in another primary marked by arguments over generational change and progressive policy proposals. Whalen, 39, a high school teacher, ran a campaign decrying the “old-school political entanglements that got us into this mess” and called to abolish ICE and cut off U.S. military aid to Israel.
Neal spent more than $1 million on campaign ads, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact, about 10 times what Whalen spent.
Meanwhile, in the open 6th District, Dan Koh won the Democratic primary in the race to succeed Rep. Seth Moulton, who ran for the Senate but lost that primary to Sen. Ed Markey.
Koh was an aide to a variety of top Democrats, including former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, and chief of staff of the U.S. Labor Department, and he was the top fundraiser in the race.
Both former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris have appeared in an ad for Koh, who has emphasized that he wants to take on Trump and his “corruption,” calling to abolish ICE and pass “Medicare for All.”
Ben Kamisar is a national political reporter for NBC News
