Stephen F. Lynch
DIncumbentFEC H2MA09072
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Raised this cycle$1.1M
Cash on hand: $494K
2026 race
MA-08 — U.S. House
3 candidates on the November ballot. Incumbent: Stephen F. Lynch.
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How we got here · 2 earlier contests
Election held
Counting
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Results appear here once a race is called and verified. Official returns from the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Make sure you can vote
Disclosed money in race
$3.1M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Incumbent
Currently in office
Challengers
Sorted by fundraising
Robert G. Burke
ChallengerFEC H2MA08090
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Raised this cycle$2K
Cash on hand: −$17K
Rasheed Nicholas Walters
IChallengerFEC H6MA08372
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Raised this cycle$0
Cash on hand: $0
1 defeated candidate — show
Patrick Thomas Roath
DDefeatedChallengerFEC H6MA08307
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Raised this cycle$1.5M
Cash on hand: $106K
Local signal
Early read on MA-08 — U.S. House
A directional read on where this seat is trending, from the signals we have so far. This is an early scaffold — more inputs light up as coverage and constituent activity accrue.
Coverage tone · the matchup
Recent news coverage of the nominees heading to the general election.
Stephen F. Lynchleans negative
2 pos19 neutral3 neg24 articles
A media signal, not a poll of the district.
Constituent stakes
No one here has staked a position on a tracked vote yet. As neighbors weigh in on /pressure campaigns, the district's lean will show up here.
Money in the race
Finance breakdown
Disclosed funding shaping this race — both the money candidates raise themselves and the outside spending dropped by independent groups. Issue-ad spending by 501(c)(4) groups is excluded; the FEC doesn't require disclosure of it. See the note below for details.
Candidate fundraising: FEC reports through October 14, 2026 · 2025–26 cycle
Total disclosed
$3.1M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$2.6M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$493K
$279K for · $214K against
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Stephen F. Lynch(D)incumbent − LEADERS WE DESERVE $214K | $1.1M | — | $214K | $839K |
Robert G. Burke | $2K | — | — | $2K |
Rasheed Nicholas Walters(I) | $0 | — | — | $0 |
1 defeated candidate — show finances
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Patrick Thomas Roath(D)defeated + LEADERS WE DESERVE $256K + INDIVISIBLE ACTION $23K | $1.5M | $279K | — | $1.8M |
Where the money comes from
In-state vs out-of-state
Share of each candidate's itemized individual contributions from donors inside MA versus the rest of the country. Excludes sub-$200 unitemized donations (no geography on file) and PAC money — see note below.
Stephen F. Lynch(D)92% in-state · $525K itemized
$484K in-state$41K out-of-state
1 defeated candidate — show
Patrick Thomas Roath(D)defeated75% in-state · $985K itemized
$738K in-state$248K out-of-state
What's counted, what isn't
Candidate-direct is each campaign's reported receipts on FEC Schedule A — individual contributions plus PAC contributions to the candidate's own committee — through the most recent filing.
Outside spending is independent expenditures on FEC Schedule E: money spent by PACs, super PACs, and party committees for or against a candidate, without legal coordination with the campaign. The committees listed under each candidate are the largest disclosed spenders on either side.
In-state vs out-of-state covers only itemized individual contributions — donations over $200, which are the only ones that carry a contributor address at the FEC. Sub-$200 unitemized donations (often a large share for grassroots campaigns) have no geography on file and are excluded, as is PAC money. So the percentages describe where a candidate's itemized individual money comes from, not where every dollar raised comes from.
Not counted: 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations run issue ads that frequently mention candidates by name but aren't classified as express advocacy under FEC rules — they file no Schedule E and don't appear in this breakdown. Press reporting on a race may cite figures that include this dark-money spending; ours doesn't.
Where they stand
Issue-by-issue comparison
Positions extracted from each candidate's campaign issues page by AI. Contested rows — where candidates disagree with each other — appear first.
| Statement | Lynch | Burke | Walters | You |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Criminal Justice The federal government should send more money to local police departments. | — | |||
Healthcare The government should provide healthcare for everyone. | — | |||
Healthcare A government-run public health insurance option should be added to the ACA marketplace. | — | |||
Immigration The U.S. should allow more legal immigration each year. | — | |||
Immigration The H-1B visa program for high-skilled foreign workers should be expanded. | — | |||
Governance & Other Voters should be required to show photo ID, with the same rule in every state. | — |
SupportsOpposesNo public positionRinged = confirmed by the campaign
About this race page
Candidate roster is sourced from the FEC's active-candidate list for the 2026 cycle. Fundraising totals reflect committee filings through the last reporting period.
Alignment % compares the candidate's extracted policy positions against your quiz answers. Positions are pulled from the candidate's campaign issues page by AI; we save the source quote for each position so you can verify the extraction. Candidates without a campaign issues page show position data pending — we're working through the roster and re-checking stale extractions every 90 days.
News coverage is from the GDELT 2.0 global news feed, filtered to a curated list of national, political, and regional outlets.