United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 2020

	2022 → ← 2018
U.S. Senate, Massachusetts
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election
Election details
	Filing deadline: May 5, 2020 (local) & June 2, 2020 (state)
	Primary: September 1, 2020; General: November 3, 2020; Pre-election incumbent:; Ed Markey (Democrat)
How to vote
	Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Voting in Massachusetts
Race ratings
	Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic; Inside Elections: Solid Democratic; Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
	U.S. Senate battlegrounds; U.S. House battlegrounds; Federal and state primary competitiveness; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
	U.S. Senate, Massachusetts; U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th • 9th; Massachusetts elections, 2020; U.S. Congress elections, 2020; U.S. Senate elections, 2020; U.S. House elections, 2020; Alabama U.S. Senate raceAlaska U.S. Senate raceArizona U.S. Senate raceArkansas U.S. Senate raceColorado U.S. Senate raceDelaware U.S. Senate raceGeorgia U.S. Senate raceIdaho U.S. Senate raceIllinois U.S. Senate raceIowa U.S. Senate raceKansas U.S. Senate raceKentucky U.S. Senate raceLouisiana U.S. Senate raceMaine U.S. Senate raceMassachusetts U.S. Senate raceMichigan U.S. Senate raceMinnesota U.S. Senate raceMississippi U.S. Senate raceMontana U.S. Senate raceNebraska U.S. Senate raceNew Hampshire U.S. Senate raceNew Jersey U.S. Senate raceNew Mexico U.S. Senate raceNorth Carolina U.S. Senate raceOklahoma U.S. Senate raceOregon U.S. Senate raceRhode Island U.S. Senate raceSouth Carolina U.S. Senate raceSouth Dakota U.S. Senate raceTennessee U.S. Senate raceTexas U.S. Senate raceVirginia U.S. Senate raceWest Virginia U.S. Senate raceWyoming U.S. Senate raceSubmit

Voters in Massachusetts elected one member to the U.S. Senate in the election on November 3, 2020.

Incumbent Edward J. Markey won election in the general election for U.S. Senate Massachusetts.

Candidate filing deadline	Primary election	General election
May 5, 2020 (local) & June 2, 2020 (state)^[1]	September 1, 2020	November 3, 2020

The election filled the Class II Senate seat held by Ed Markey (D). Markey was first elected in 2013.

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

Massachusetts modified its absentee/mail-in procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

Absentee/mail-in voting: Absentee/mail-in voting eligibility was extended to all qualified voters in the general election.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Massachusetts

Incumbent Edward J. Markey defeated Kevin O'Connor and Shiva Ayyadurai in the general election for U.S. Senate Massachusetts on November 3, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Edward J. Markey (D)	66.2	2,357,809
	Kevin O'Connor (R)	33.0	1,177,765
	Shiva Ayyadurai (R) (Write-in)	0.6	21,134
	Other/Write-in votes	0.2	7,428

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,564,136
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Frederick Mayock (Independent)
Andre Gray (G)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Massachusetts

Incumbent Edward J. Markey defeated Joseph Kennedy III in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Massachusetts on September 1, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Edward J. Markey	55.4	782,694
	Joseph Kennedy III	44.5	629,359
	Other/Write-in votes	0.1	1,935

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,413,988
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Massachusetts

Kevin O'Connor defeated Shiva Ayyadurai in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Massachusetts on September 1, 2020.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Kevin O'Connor	59.7	158,590
	Shiva Ayyadurai	39.4	104,782
	Other/Write-in votes	0.8	2,245

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 265,617
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for U.S. Senate Massachusetts

No candidate advanced from the primary.

Candidate	%	Votes
Vermin Supreme (Write-in)	0.8	27
Other/Write-in votes	99.2	3,390

Vote totals may be incomplete for this race.
	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,417
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Ballot access requirements

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates in Massachusetts in the 2020 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Massachusetts, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. Senate candidates, 2020
State	Office	Party	Signatures required	Signature formula	Filing fee	Filing fee formula	Filing deadline	Source
Massachusetts	U.S. Senate	All parties	10,000	Fixed number	N/A	N/A	6/2/2020	Source
Massachusetts	U.S. Senate	Unaffiliated	10,000	Fixed number	N/A	N/A	8/25/2020	Source

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.^[2] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.^[3]

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Edward J. Markey	Democratic Party	$14,466,754	$15,051,879	$1,642,211	As of December 31, 2020
Shiva Ayyadurai	Republican Party	$1,811,517	$1,753,746	$58,123	As of December 31, 2020
Kevin O'Connor	Republican Party	$947,014	$884,051	$62,963	As of December 31, 2020
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

Race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.^[4]
Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.^[5]^[6]^[7]

Race ratings: U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts, 2020
Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 3, 2020	October 27, 2020	October 20, 2020	October 13, 2020
The Cook Political Report	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic	Solid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic	Safe Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

Election history