Voters Support Rent Control, Income Tax Limit Potential Ballot Initiatives
A new Emerson College Polling Massachusetts survey finds Democratic Senator Ed Markey starting his re-election bid with a five-point lead over Democratic challenger Rep. Seth Moulton, leading 37% to 32%, with 29% of voters undecided.
“Senator Markey leads the Democratic primary by 13 points among registered Democrats, while Rep. Moulton holds a 38% to 32% edge among unenrolled voters,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling. “Markey leads women 37% to 29%, while men are essentially split, with 38% backing Moulton and 37% Markey.”
Voters under 50 break for Senator Markey by seven points, 33% to 26%, while voters over 50 are split: 40% support Markey and 38% support Moulton.
“Notably, groups that are more favorable toward Markey, including women and young voters, are also more undecided than their counterparts; women are ten points more undecided than men (33% to 23%), and 39% of voters under 50 are undecided compared to 21% of voters over 50,” Kimball added.
Senator Markey holds a 37% favorable rating among Massachusetts voters and 35% unfavorable rating. Twenty-three percent are neutral. Among Democratic Primary voters, 60% have a favorable view of the Senator and 12% unfavorable. Rep. Moulton holds a 31% favorable rating and 26% unfavorable. Thirty percent are neutral. Among Democratic primary voters, 49% have a favorable view of Moulton and 11% unfavorable.
Gov. Maura Healey has a 45% favorable rating among Massachusetts voters, while 35% have an unfavorable view of Healey; 17% are neutral. Senator Elizabeth Warren holds a 48% favorable rating statewide, and 35% unfavorable; 14% are neutral. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu holds a 45% favorable rating, and 34% unfavorable; 16% are neutral.
The survey asked voters how they would vote on potential ballot measures this November.
A majority (62%) would vote yes on a ballot measure to decrease the state income tax rate from 5% to 4% by 2029, while 19% would vote no, and 20% are not sure.
A majority (60%) would also vote yes on a ballot measure to limit annual rent increase in Massachusetts to no more than 5%, while 26% would vote no. Fourteen percent are not sure.
Half (50%) of voters would vote yes to change the current party primary system to all-party primaries, in which all candidates would be listed on the ballot regardless of party, and the top two vote getters would advance to the general election; 29% would vote no, and 21% are not sure.
Fifteen percent are very interested in the upcoming World Cup games in the Boston area, 35% are somewhat interested, and 49% are not interested at all.
Voters under 50 are most engaged at 23% very excited, compared to 10% of voters over 50 who say the same.
Methodology
The Emerson College Polling Massachusetts survey was conducted May 3-4 2026. The overall sample of Massachusetts voters, n=1,000, has a credibility interval, similar to a poll’s margin of error (MOE), of +/- 3 percent. The sample of likely Democratic Primary voters includes a sample size of n=451 with a credibility interval of +/- 4.5%. The data sets were weighted by gender, education, race, age, party registration, and region based on U.S. Census parameters and voter file data.
It is important to remember that subsets based on demographics, such as gender, age, education, and race/ethnicity, carry with them higher credibility intervals, as the sample size is reduced. Survey results should be understood within the poll’s range of scores, and with a confidence interval of 95% a poll will fall outside the range of scores 1 in 20 times.
Data was collected by contacting registered voters from a voter file provided by Aristotle using MMS text-to-web; a probability-based panel of voters provided by Consensus Strategies using MMS text-to-web; and additional panel interviews provided by PureSpectrum. All respondents were recruited using customized links that prevent responses from anyone outside of the poll’s sample frame. Panel responses were matched to the Aristotle voter file using respondents’ full name and ZIP code. The survey was administered using QuestionPro, and the survey was offered in English.
All questions asked in this survey with exact wording and order, along with full results, demographics, and cross tabulations can be found below.
