The 2008 congressional elections in Massachusetts were held on November 4, 2008, to determine who will represent the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

in the

United States 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 ...

. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; whoever is elected will serve in the

111th Congress The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with th ...

from January 4, 2009, until January 3, 2011. The election coincides with the

2008 U.S. presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...

. 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 cen ...

. Its 2007-2008 congressional delegation consisted of ten Democrats. This remains unchanged, and ''CQ Politics'' had forecasted all districts safe for its Democratic incumbent.

Overview

District 1

covers roughly the northwest half of the state. It has been represented by Democrat

John Olver John Walter Olver (born September 3, 1936) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 1st congressional district from 1991 to 2013. Raised on a farm in Pennsylvania, Olver graduated from college at the age ...

since June, 1991. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.

District 2

lies in the south-central part of the state. It has been represented by Democrat

Richard Neal Richard Edmund Neal (born February 14, 1949) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 1989. The district, numbered as the 2nd district from 1989 to 2013, includes Springfield, West Springfield, Pittsfield, H ...

since 1989. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.

District 3

lies in the central and southeastern part of the state. It has been represented by Democrat Jim McGovern since 1997. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.

District 4

lies in the southern part of the state, including the South Coast region. It has been represented by Democrat

Barney Frank Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a former American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democrat, Frank served as chairman of the House Financial Services Committ ...

since 1981. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.

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 October, 2007. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.

District 6

covers the north-east corner of the state. It has been represented by Democrat John Tierney since 1997. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.

District 7

lies in the eastern part of the state, including some

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

suburbs. It has been represented by Democrat Edward J. Markey since 1976. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.

District 8

lies in the eastern part of the state, including part of

and the immediately adjacent cities of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, Somerville, and

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. It has been represented by Democrat

Mike Capuano Michael Everett Capuano ( ; born January 9, 1952) is an American politician and attorney who served as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts from 1999 to 2019. A Democrat, his district included the northern three-fourths of Boston, as well ...

since 1999. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.

District 9

lies in the eastern part of the state, including part of

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'.

District 10

covers the south-east part of the state, including parts of the South Shore and all of

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

and

The Islands The Islands was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It first appeared on the hustings in the 1890 British Columbia general election, 1890 provincial election and lasted until it was integrated into the new ...

. It has been represented by Democrat

Bill Delahunt William David Delahunt (born July 18, 1941) is an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. He is a former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1997 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Delahunt did not seek re-election ...

since 1997. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.

References

External links

Elections
from the ''Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth''
U.S. Congress candidates for Massachusetts
at

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...

Massachusetts U.S. House Races
from ''2008 Race Tracker''
Campaign contributions for Massachusetts congressional races
from

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...

{{2008 United States elections

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