On November 26, Massachusetts Governor Duval Patrick signed HB 3764, which moves the 2014 primary date from September 16 to September 9. The bill only applies to 2014, so under current law, primaries in years beyond 2014 continue to be seven weeks before the general election, which would have been September 16 in 2014 if HB 3764 hadn’t passed.

The legislature created HB 3764 on November 18. The House passed it the same day and the Senate passed it the next day. Until the bill passed, Massachusetts had been scheduled to have the latest primary of 2014. But now, it is merely tied with Delaware, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island for having the nation’s last 2014 primary. Thanks to Tony Roza for this news.