On September 9 about 688,000 voters headed to the polls to cast their votes in the primaries for the many seats up for election in the State Senate, State House of Representatives, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Governor’s office. Political surprises occurred and many new names were seen on the ballot. John Tierney, the incumbent U.S. Representative of the 6^th Congressional District, was defeated by Seth Moulton, an Iraq war veteran and a freshman in the political arena. Tierney had been the U.S Representative since 1992, and served nine terms. As for Plymouth County, which includes Abington, Brockton and Rockland, only two major seats were up for election in the primaries (excluding uncontested seats) – Plymouth County Register of Probate, and the 10^th Plymouth District of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Running for the Register of Probate seat are Matthew McDonough (D-Marshfield) and Anthony O’Brien (R-Pembroke). The candidates running for state representative in the 10th Plymouth District are Michelle DuBois (D-Brockton) and John Cruz (R-West Bridgewater).

The statewide election for governor will take place on Tuesday, November 4. According to WBUR-FM, a recent Boston Globe poll showed Democrat Martha Coakley trailing Republican Charlie Baker by nine percentage points. Reportedly, Coakley’s campaign disputes these numbers and says their own poll and others show that the race is a lot closer. The Globe has endorsed Baker.