It's Election Day, and Massachusetts has a very long ballot and a very short suspense list.

Polls are open until 8 p.m., and the main event here isn't who wins, it's what voters do with a record-tying nine statewide ballot questions, the busiest slate in more than three decades. Gov. Maura Healey is expected to cruise past Republican Mike Minogue, a former medical device CEO who has poured about $19.5 million of his own money into the race, a state record for self-financing. The Globe's Power Play newsletter says Healey is expected to win by more than 20 points. Whether this was Minogue's last ballot appearance or a warm-up lap for another run is the more interesting question.

The real action is on the ballot questions. Based on pre-election polling, the two repeal efforts look like long shots. Question 8, which would dismantle the recreational cannabis industry voters approved a decade ago, is the most expensive question of the cycle, funded almost entirely by a Virginia-based anti-marijuana nonprofit, yet support has been stuck in the low 30s at best. The referendum on the 2024 gun law (Question 9) is polling at 31 percent or lower for repeal. Meanwhile, Question 1, which would bring the governor's office and Legislature under the public records law, is polling between 63 and 84 percent in favor, depending on the survey, making it the likeliest to become law.

Turnout is the wild card. Secretary of State William Galvin said more than 1.1 million people had voted early as of Monday, but he declined to project a final number. Matching 2022's 2.5 million would take a big in-person showing today. Expect AP calls on the ballot questions to roll in after polls close at 8 p.m. If you haven't voted yet, you have until then.

Full story at CommonWealth Beacon →

Boston proposes closing three schools in 2028. Boston Public Schools leaders will propose shutting East Boston Early Education Center, Greater Egleston High School in Roxbury, and Charlestown High School at Wednesday's School Committee meeting, with a vote expected in early December. Mayor Michelle Wu said public dollars should go to students rather than "half-empty buildings." If approved, the district would drop from 119 schools in 2023 to 97 by 2028, with a goal of 95 by 2030. The plan also reconfigures or relocates seven other schools. WBUR →

Details on the other seven schools. Beyond the closures, BPS would reconfigure Hurley K-8 and Joyce Kilmer K-8 as pre-K–6 schools, add grades 7 and 8 to Boston Arts Academy and Fenway High School, and relocate Boston Green Academy to the South Boston Education Complex. Superintendent Mary Skipper acknowledged that closures are "hard changes and recommendations to hear." Boston.com →

BPS buses are still a mess. At a City Council hearing Monday, parents described children dropped at the wrong stops, one five-year-old let off too early, and tracking software that doesn't track. Boston has fined contractor Transdev more than $400,000 over the last school year and another $10,500 for blown trips. Councilor Ed Flynn called the roughly $200 million system "broken and failed." Boston.com →

Weymouth police shooting ruled justified. Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey's office said officers acted reasonably when they fatally shot 25-year-old Sean Barry at Webb Memorial State Park in March. According to the report, Barry was suicidal and, after refusing to drop a kitchen knife and being hit with a taser, charged at three officers. The death was ruled a homicide, but the DA noted that not all homicides are unlawful. Boston Globe →

Man stabbed at Copley station. A 59-year-old man was stabbed in the neck on the westbound Green Line platform Monday night around 8:30. Transit Police arrested a suspect, and the victim, who was conscious and alert, is expected to survive. Boston.com →

Cellphones in schools: will the Legislature act? Per the National Conference of State Legislatures, 42 states have passed school phone restrictions, and about 80 percent of Massachusetts districts have their own policies. Boston plans a bell-to-bell ban starting in 2027-28. CommonWealth Beacon's polling shows strong support for a statewide rule, which raises the question of why the Legislature hasn't acted and leaves a patchwork of local policies. CommonWealth Beacon →

• Tonight, 8 p.m.: Polls close statewide. GBH is running live midterm results and a ballot question tracker with AP calls.
• Wednesday: The Boston School Committee hears the school closure proposals, with a vote expected in early December. WBUR →
• Nov. 17: Globe Summit lunch with Barr Foundation CEO Ali Noorani, for Power Play readers who RSVP. Boston Globe →

Track all bills →

Yesterday's Biggest Contributions

Big Spending This Week

Data from the MA Office of Campaign & Political Finance

Full hearing schedule →

Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance:

Candidates

• Julie Bowditch (Democratic) — City Councilor, Worcester — Filed: 11/2/2026
• Robert Barcellos — Mayoral, Fall River — Filed: 10/30/2026

Change of Purposes

• Luz Villar — Mayoral, Brockton → City Councilor, Brockton — Filed: 10/29/2026

OCPF →

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