Concord attorney Mara Dolan won the Third District Governor's Council Democratic primary on Tuesday, Sept. 1, beating challenger Margie Palladino by a nearly three-to-one margin.

With 85% of the vote counted in uncertified results, Dolan held a 74.5% to 25.5% lead, The Concord Bridge reported. The Associated Press called the race at 10:27 p.m.

The results were even more lopsided in Concord. Dolan pulled 3,398 votes in her hometown to Palladino's 543, according to unofficial results released by Town Clerk Kaari Mai Tari. Concord's Democratic primary turnout was 34%, with 4,412 ballots cast.

Dolan told The Concord Bridge on election night that she was thrilled and overjoyed by the results.

No Republican appeared on the Third District ballot. The Republican councillor line in Concord drew only 32 write-ins and 527 blanks out of 559 ballots. That absence gives Dolan a clear path to a second full term in November's general election.

The Governor's Council is an eight-member elected panel that reviews judicial nominations, sentence commutations and pardons. Dolan, who has called herself the first public defender elected to the body, won the seat in 2024 by ousting 25-year incumbent Marilyn Petitto Devaney.

What sparked the challenge

Palladino, executive director of the Massachusetts Family Advocacy Coalition, entered the race after Dolan voted on April 1 to confirm Mary Ferriter as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court. The council approved Ferriter 4-3, according to Brookline.News. The campaign centered on domestic violence and how judges handle victims and perpetrators.

The two candidates squared off at a tense Aug. 10 forum at the Concord Free Public Library, moderated by Concord Town Democratic Committee Chair Matt Boger.

Concord resident Valerie Lane attended both the forum and Dolan's election night party at the Stockyard Restaurant in Brighton. Lane described the library event as an appalling attack by people who claimed to support women while trying to destroy one.

Election night

Dolan celebrated at the Stockyard, where she propped campaign signs on high-tops by the bar. She received the evening's first results from Boxborough roughly 45 minutes after polls closed.

Her daughter, Grace McInnis, a 2008 Concord-Carlisle High School graduate, traveled from New Hampshire for the party.

Palladino conceded in a statement sent through a campaign supporter, saying the campaign had raised issues of ethics, transparency and court reform.

As of Aug. 28, Dolan had outraised Palladino, collecting about $34,700 in 2026 donations to Palladino's roughly $21,400, according to a Concord Bridge preview. Dolan's endorsers included U.S. Reps. Katherine Clark and Lori Trahan, five state senators, 20 state representatives and eight labor unions. Palladino earned the backing of State Auditor Diana DiZoglio.

With no Republican on the November ballot, Dolan is positioned to hold the seat. A new judicial nomination already landed in her inbox on election night. "They never stop," she said with a smile.