Known as the Bay State, Massachusetts is the 13th most populous state in the country. Two-thirds of its 6.5 million residents live on the eastern side of the state, concentrated around Boston and other urban areas and reflecting the state's once-booming industry that has been replaced in the second half of the 20th century by strong tourism and digital and biological technologies.

Nationally, Massachusetts is seen as one of the great liberal strong-holds in the country and the only state where same-sex couples can legally marry. Democrats hold 85 percent of the seats in its state legislature, the General Court, and all 10 U.S. House seats and two Senate seats.

The political reality in the basically blue state of Massachusetts is far from monochromatic, however. Republicans and Democrats, together, can claim only 50.2 percent of registered voters. The remaining 49.8 percent are registered as unaffiliated or claim allegiance to smaller parties, such as the Green-Rainbow.

Despite electing Democrats to the General Court and Congress, independent voters have elected Republicans as governors since 1991.

Historically, this office has been held by more Republicans than Democrats; since 1914, Republicans have placed 14 candidates in the governor's seat compared to 11 Democrats. The two longest stretches of single-party rule were from 1916 to 1931 and from 1991 to 2006, and in both periods Republicans held the office.

This year, the governors race, left open by departing Republican Mitt Romney, will test the state's preference once again.

The most recent Democrat to be elected governor was Michael Dukakis, the Democratic presidential candidate in 1988, who began his first of three terms as governor in 1975. Dukakis lead the state into posterity from 1975 to1979 and again from 1983 to 1987. During his third term, from 1988 to 1991, the state's economy began to collapse. A national reduction in defense spending, in addition to Microsoft beating out Cambridge's Lotus software in public usage, resulted in high unemployment and failing banks. The voters responded by electing Republican William Weld to the governor's office in 1991.

Romney rose to power after successfully organizing the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. When elected in Massachusetts, Romney was seen politically to be center-right, but nearing the end of his first term, he drifted toward conservatism. One of Romney's biggest achievements as governor was negotiating a statewide health plan that would cover virtually all residents without raising taxes.

Yet Romney is seen as an absentee governor by many Massachusetts residents as he tries to increase his visibility within the national Republican Party in hope of a presidential election bid in 2008.

In line with his presidential jockeying, Romney has chosen not to run for re-election.

With a recently balanced budget, Romney has called on the General Court to roll back the state's flat income tax from 5.3 percent to 5 percent. Going into the 2006 mid-term election, this will likely be a key issue for the gubernatorial candidates.

Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey will run as the Republican candidate against Democrat Deval Patrick, a lawyer who won a tough primary on Sept. 19 against Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly and venture capitalist Chris Gabrieli.

Another key issue in the race reflects the state's brisk tourism industry. Plans have been made to build a series of windmills off the coast of Cape Cod to generate power. While these plans are supported by many Massachusetts residents, many on Cape Cod believe that the windmills will clutter their view of the ocean and negatively impact tourism. The gubernatorial candidates are split about the plan's impact on Massachusetts.

Recently, a statewide constitutional convention put a ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage on this November's ticket. While Massachusetts is currently the only state where couples of the same sex can marry, the state's large Catholic population makes same-sex marriage a murky issue. All of the Democratic gubernatorial candidates support civil unions that give same-sex couples the same rights as married couples. Only Republican candidate Kerry Healey is outright opposed to same-sex marriage.

The state's seven-term Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy also is up for re-election but does not face a competitive race.

-- Compiled by Bryan Hayes for the Online NewsHour