The 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Massachusetts were held on November 2, 2010, to determine who would represent the
state of
Massachusetts in the
U.S. House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
. Massachusetts has ten seats in the House, apportioned according to the
2000 United States Census
The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...
. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected will serve in the
112th Congress
The 112th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2011, until January 3, 2013. It convened in Washington, D.C. on January 3, 2011, and ended on January 3, 2013, 17 ...
from January 3, 2011 until January 3, 2013. All current representatives are member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
and none of the ten faced major party opposition in 2008.
Overview
By district
Results of the 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Massachusetts by district:
District 1
covers roughly the northwest half of the state. It has been represented by Democrat
John Olver since June 1991.
District 2
lies in the south-central part of the state. It has been represented by Democrat
Richard Neal since 1989.
The Republican Party nominee is Tom Wesley, who defeated
Jay Fleitman in the September primary. Democrat Neal has not faced a Republican challenger since 1996.
District 3
lies in the central and southeastern part of the state. It has been represented by Democrat
Jim McGovern since 1997.
District 4
lies in the southern part of the state, including the
South Coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area.
Geographical
Australia
*South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney
* South Coast (Q ...
region. It has been represented by Democrat
Barney Frank since 1981. CQ Politics had forecast the race as 'Safe Democrat'. Rachel Brown, famous for comparing health care reform to a Nazi in front of Frank during a 2009 Town Hall meeting, ran unsuccessfully against Frank in the Democratic primary, losing 39,974 to 10,289. Sean Bielat, a technology executive from Brookline, won the Republican primary to challenge Frank, defeating Earl Sholley, the Republican Nominee from
Norfolk in 2008, by a vote of 11,797 to 7,782.
Polling
District 5
lies in the north-east part of the state. It has been represented by Democrat
Niki Tsongas
Nicola Dickson "Niki" Sauvage Tsongas (; born April 26, 1946) is an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts from 2007 to 2019. She held the seat formerly held by her husband, the late Paul Tsongas, for the dis ...
since she won a special election in October 16, 2007 upon the resignation of
Marty Meehan (D).
District 6
covers the north-east corner of the state. At the time of the election it had been represented by Democrat
John F. Tierney since 1997.
District 7
lies in the eastern part of the state, including some
Boston suburbs. It has been represented by Democrat
Edward J. Markey
Edward John Markey (born July 11, 1946) is an American lawyer, politician, and former Army reservist who has served as the junior United States senator from Massachusetts since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representat ...
since 1976.
District 8
lies in the eastern part of the state, including part of
Boston and the immediately adjacent cities of
Cambridge,
Somerville
Somerville may refer to:
*Somerville College, Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford
Places
*Somerville, Victoria, Australia
* Somerville, Western Australia, a suburb of Kalgoorlie, Australia
* Somerville, New Zealand, a subur ...
, and
Chelsea. It has been represented by Democrat
Mike Capuano since 1999. Capuano ran unopposed.
[Mooney, Brian C. (February 14, 2010).]
Poll indicates signs of a GOP resurgence in some N.E. districts
" '' The Boston Globe''. Retrieved March 9, 2010.
District 9
lies in the eastern part of the state, including part of
Boston and some of its southern suburbs. It has been represented by Democrat
Stephen Lynch since October 2001. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.
In response to Lynch's vote against health care reform, Needham selectwoman Harmony Wu announced she was considering a run against Lynch in the Democratic Primary, but announced on April 7, 2010 that she decided not to run. On April 22
Mac D'Alessandro
Mac or MAC most commonly refers to:
* Mac (computer), a family of personal computers made by Apple Inc.
* Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth
* A variant of the word macaroni, mostly used in the name of the dish mac and cheese
* Mac, ...
, the New England political director of SEIU, announced his intention to challenge Lynch. Polling has indicated that Lynch is vulnerable to such a challenge.
District 10
This was an open seat. Candidates were Democratic nominee
William R. Keating
William Richard Keating (born September 6, 1952) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 9th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he first entered Congress in 2 ...
, Republican nominee
Jeff Perry, and Independents Maryanne Lewis and Jim Sheets.
covers the south-east part of the state, including parts of the
South Shore and all of
Cape Cod and
The Islands. Democrat
Bill Delahunt, who has represented the seat since 1997, announced in March 2010 that he did not plan to run for re-election. The Boston Globe, on April 30, 2010, reported that Democratic State Senator
Robert O'Leary
Robert A. O'Leary is a former member of the Massachusetts Senate ( D- Barnstable) who served from 2001 to 2011. He was a candidate in the 2010 Democratic primary for Massachusetts's 10th congressional district.
Early life and career
O'Leary ...
would announce his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the seat on the day following.
Joseph P. Kennedy III was considered a likely Democratic contender, but he chose not to run.
[Tuohey, Jason (March 4, 2010).]
Delahunt will not seek reelection
" '' The Boston Globe''. Retrieved March 4, 2010. It was reported in the Boston Globe, that
District Attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...
of
Norfolk County William R. Keating also sought the Democratic nomination for the seat.
Republican
Joe Malone, who ran against
Ted Kennedy in 1988 and served as state treasurer from 1991 to 1999, unsuccessfully ran for the seat. Republican State Representative Jeff Perry also ran. Despite a movement to draft him into running, Republican State Senator
Bob Hedlund decided not to enter this race. Ray Kasperowicz of Cohasset had also filed to run as a Republican, but also lost in the primary.
Malone received a donation from
US-Cuba Democracy PAC The US-Cuba Democracy PAC is an American Lobby groups, special interest group that lobbies the United States Congress and Executive (government), White House with the stated goal of "promoting an unconditional transition in Cuba to democracy, the ru ...
.
Perry received donations from the Sandwich and Nantucket Republican Town Committees, the Cape Cod Republican Club, as well as other PACs such as the Committee to Elect Greer Swiston and the
Cummings Committee.
Polling
Campaign financing
District 1
Fundraising totals for Olver and Gunn are as of October 13, 2010. Totals for Engel are as of September 30. Source: Federal Election Commission
District 2
As of October 13, 2010. Source: Federal Election Commission
District 3
As of October 13, 2010. Source: Federal Election Commission
District 4
As of October 13, 2010. Source: Federal Election Commission
District 5
As of October 15, 2010. Source: Federal Election Commission
District 6
As of October 13, 2010. Source: Federal Election Commission
District 7
Totals for Markey are as of October 13; totals for Dembrowski are as of October September 30. Source: Federal Election Commission
District 8
As of October 13, 2010. Source: Federal Election Commission
District 9
As of October 13, 2010. Source: Federal Election Commission
District 10
As of October 13, 2010. Source: Federal Election Commission
References
External links
Neal for CongressJay Fleitman for CongressTom Wesley for United States CongressHouse - Massachusettsfrom the ''
Cook Political Report''
Local politicsat ''
The Boston Herald''
MA - District 10from OurCampaigns.com
Race ranking and detailsfrom
CQ Politics
Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combined ...
Campaign contributionsfrom
OpenSecretsRace profileat ''
The New York Times''
{{United States elections, 2010
United States House of Representatives
2010
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Massachusetts