How does government work in Massachusetts?

What may surprise you here

• An elected Governor’s Council (councillors) must consent to the governor’s judicial appointments. source
• Massachusetts calls its legislature the General Court, and the constitution has it meet every year. source
• Several of the 14 counties no longer have county governments. Middlesex’s was abolished in 1997, followed by others. source

Legislature

Name

General Court source

Senate: seats

40 source

Senate: term in years

2 source

House of Representatives: seats

160 source

House of Representatives: term in years

2 source

Term limits

None (voter-approved limits struck down by the state supreme court in 1997) source

Structure set by: Massachusetts Constitution, Part the Second, Chapter I, Section I; Amendment Article CI.

Governor and statewide offices

Term in years

4 source

Term limit

None source

Next regular election

2030 source

Lieutenant governor

joint ticket source

Attorney general

elected source

Attorney general’s term in years

4 source

Secretary of state

elected source

Secretary of state’s term in years

4 source

Courts

Highest court

Supreme Judicial Court source

Intermediate appeals court

Appeals Court source

Main trial court

Superior Court Department of the Trial Court source

How high-court judges reach the bench

gubernatorial appointment source

Local government

Called

county source

How many

14 source

Cities and towns

Cities are governed by mayors and city councils, while towns are usually governed by boards of selectmen and town meetings. source

Schools

The Census Bureau counts 85 independent school district governments in Massachusetts. source

Elections

Chief election official

Secretary of the Commonwealth source

Who runs elections locally

City and town clerks source

Primary type

partially closed source

Regular governor elections fall in

even source

Citizen initiatives

yes source

Who holds these offices

As of November 5, 2026. Terms of the current Congress run to January 3, 2027. Winners of the November 3, 2026 elections are not shown until results are certified and they take office.

Governor: Maura Healey DDemocratic, in office since January 5, 2023. source

Who has held each Senate seat since 2001

Each band is one person in the seat. The line marks November 2026; anything to its right is the rest of a current term. Dates through 2026 come from the congress-legislators public dataset, whose current members are matched against the Senate’s own roster on every build.

Sources