Will Bill Belichick get some relief for the New England Patriots at the ballot box? Or will tonight's primary results in 'Taxachusetts' leave him feeling ... deflated?

"That's Taxachusetts" 😂😂😂

Bill Belichick #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/JqOUggUtuq

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) August 26, 2024

The 72-year-old Belichick — who parted ways with the Patriots after 24 seasons and six Super Bowl titles in January — recalled negotiations being difficult in Foxboro due to state’s four percent surtax on taxable income more than $1 million, which was implemented in 2022.

“That’s Taxachusetts,” Belichick said during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday, which drew laughs from Pat McAfee and his co-host AJ Hawk. “Virtually every player, even the practice squad … even the minimum players are pretty close to $1 million. So once you hit the $1 million threshold, you pay more state tax in Massachusetts. 

“Just another thing you’ve got to contend with in negotiations up there. It’s not like Tennessee or Florida or Nevada — or some of these teams have no state income tax.

“You get hit pretty hard on that with the agents. They’ll come and sledgehammer you down about the tax they’re paying. We don’t get any benefit from that.”

Sadly, we can expect a lot less pressure than we'd like on politicians over confiscatory tax policies tonight. Massachusetts goes to the polls today for its primaries, and we'll have live results as they come in. Given the partisan tilt in the Commonwealth, we can probably not expect too much great news for conservatives in these results, but they are still worth watching. To get an idea of just how little competition there will be on the ballot, the state has 303 total races ... and only 49 of them are contested. 

Once again, we are partnering with our friends at Decision Desk HQ to provide real-time vote results after polls close, which will happen at various times tonight. The widgets below will list those times, and will automatically update. Please note: The House primaries are all available in a single widget for each party; you will need to use the drop-down box to choose the race you want.

We're able to do this, of course, in large part because of the support of our VIP and VIP Gold members. Become a HotAir VIP member today and use promo code 2024 to receive a 50% discount on your membership.

The big race to watch is the Senate primary. Elizabeth Warren will defend the seat in November, and three Republicans will duke it out for the chance to compete against her in two months. John Deaton is expected to win; he has raised nearly $1.8 million, and the nearest competitor is Ian Cain at $400,000. The third contender, Robert Antonellis, is more of a Trump/MAGA figure, but he's only raised $46,000. Deaton has gotten significant super-PAC support too, and has $975,000 cash on hand remaining for the general-election fight. 

The only other race worth watching is MA-08, where incumbent Dem Rep. Stephen Lynch faces no challenge for his 12th term. Three Republicans will vie tonight for a chance to take on Lynch in this D+15 district, including the 2022 nominee, Robert Burke. He only got 31% of the vote two years ago, but perhaps the name recognition gives him an edge Both Burke and Daniel Kelly are outspoken Trump supporters, while James Govatsos is more of a traditional Republican. 

Polls close at 8 pm ET tonight. DDHQ expects 85% of the vote to report before midnight, but the two GOP primaries may be close enough that a call may come later, especially in the House race.