Massachusetts's 9th congressional district special election of 2001 was held on October 16, 2001 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative

Joe Moakley John Joseph Moakley (April 27, 1927 – May 28, 2001) was an American politician who served as the United States representative for Massachusetts's 9th congressional district from 1973 until his death in 2001. Moakley won the seat from incumbent L ...

. Democratic

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

Stephen F. Lynch won the election; defeating six candidates in the Democratic primary and three in the general election.

Primaries

The Democratic and Republican primaries were held on September 11, 2001. The election was overshadowed by the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

, which occurred shortly after polls opened. Stephen Lynch defeated State Senators

Cheryl Jacques Cheryl Ann Jacques (born February 17, 1962) is an American politician and attorney who served six terms in the Massachusetts Senate, was the president of the Human Rights Campaign for 11 months, and served as an administrative judge in the Massa ...

, Brian A. Joyce, and Marc R. Pacheco, former federal prosecutor William F. Sinnott, housing advocate John E. Taylor, and activist William A. Ferguson, Jr. for the Democratic nomination. State Senator

Jo Ann Sprague Jo Ann Sprague (born November 3, 1931) is a former Massachusetts State Representative (1993–1998) and State Senator (1999–2004) from Walpole. In the Massachusetts Senate she represented the Norfolk, Bristol, and Plymouth district, but mo ...

defeated State Republican Committeeman William D. McKinney for the Republican nomination.

General election

Stephen F. Lynch won the general election. He defeated his nearest competitor, Jo Ann Sprague, by over 22,000 votes.

References

{{Massachusetts elections Massachusetts 2001 09 Massachusetts 2001 09 2001 09 Special Massachusetts 09 Special United States House of Representatives 09 Special United States House of Representatives 2001 09 October 2001 events in the United States