The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Massachusetts were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012, to elect the nine U.S. representatives from the state of

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, a loss of one seat following the 2010 census,, to be codified at for service in the

113th Congress The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Barack Obama's presidency. It was composed of the ...

from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

. The candidate elected in each of the state's

congressional districts Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional body. Countries with congressional districts includ ...

was a member the Democratic Party.

Primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

s were held on September 6, 2012. This primary was on a Thursday, which is rare in Massachusetts, and it was moved from Tuesday, September 18, 2012, because of a conflicting religious holiday.

Overview

District 1

Democrat

Richard Neal Richard Edmund Neal (born February 14, 1949) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 1989. The district, numbered as the Massachusetts's 2nd congressional district, 2nd di ...

, who has represented the 2nd district since 1989, was redistricted into the 1st district. He ran for re-election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

=Eliminated in primary

= * Andrea F. Nuciforo Jr., Middle Berkshire Register of Deeds and former

state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

* Bill Shein, writer

Primary results

General election

Predictions

Results

District 2

Since 1991, Democrat

John Olver John Walter Olver (September 3, 1936 – February 23, 2023) was an American politician and chemist who was the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 1st congressional district from 1991 to 2013. Raised on a farm in Pennsylvania, Olver grad ...

, has represented the 1st district, most of which remains in the proposed new 1st district. He was to have been redistricted to the 2nd district, except that he announced his retirement two weeks before the new districts were proposed. Democrat Jim McGovern, who was redistricted from the 3rd district, ran for re-election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Jim McGovern, incumbent U.S. Representative

=Eliminated in primary

= *William Feegbeh

=Declined

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative * Dennis Rosa,

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

Primary results

Republican primary

Declined

*Gregg Lisciotti,

real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to other ...

*Dean Mazzarella, Mayor of

Leominster Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England; it is located at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of almos ...

General election

Predictions

Results

District 3

Democrat

Niki Tsongas Nicola Dickson "Niki" Tsongas (; née Sauvage; 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 ...

, who was redistricted from the 5th district, ran for re-election. She was unopposed in the primary.

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

Primary results

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Jon Golnik, business consultant and nominee for the 5th district in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

=Eliminated in primary

= * Tom Weaver, businessman and candidate for the 5th district in

Primary results

General election

Polling

Predictions

Results

District 4

Democrat

Barney Frank Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a retired American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Frank served as chairman of th ...

, who has represented the 4th district since 1981, retired rather than run for re-election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Joseph Kennedy III, Middlesex County

assistant district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represe ...

=Eliminated in primary

= * Rachel Brown, LaRouche activist and candidate for this seat in

* Herb Robinson,

software engineer Software engineering is a branch of both computer science and engineering focused on designing, developing, testing, and maintaining software applications. It involves applying engineering principles and computer programming expertise to develop ...

=Withdrawn

= *Paul Heroux, businessman

=Declined

= * Ruth Balser,

*Michael Burstein, author and member of the Brookline

Town Meeting Town meeting, also known as an "open town meeting", is a form of local government in which eligible town residents can directly participate in an assembly which determines the governance of their town. Unlike representative town meeting where ...

* Cynthia Creem, state senator * William A. Flanagan, Mayor of Fall River *

, incumbent U.S. Representative * Deborah Goldberg, former chair of the

Brookline Brookline may refer to: Places in the United States * Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston * Brookline, Missouri, a village * Brookline, New Hampshire, a town * Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania * Brookl ...

Board of Selectmen *

Alan Khazei Alan Khazei (; born May 28, 1961) is an American social entrepreneur. He served as chief executive officer of City Year, an AmeriCorps national service program he co-founded with Michael Brown, his friend and roommate at Harvard College and Har ...

, co-founder of the

City Year City Year is an American education nonprofit organization founded in 1988. The organization partners with public schools in 29 high-need communities across the US and through international affiliates in the UK and Johannesburg, South Africa. City ...

non-profit * Jesse Mermell, Brookline Selectwoman * Marc Pacheco, state senator * Michael P. Ross,

Boston City Council The Boston City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is made up of 13 members: 9 district representatives and 4 at-large members. Councillors are elected to two-year ...

or * James Segel, former

*David Simas, former policy adviser to

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Deval Patrick Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was the first African Americans, African-American Governor of Massachusetts and the first Democratic Pa ...

* Sam Sutter, Bristol County

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

* James E. Timilty, state senator *

Setti Warren Setti David Warren (born August 25, 1970) is an American politician. He served as Mayor of Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, and is a former Democratic candidate for United States Senate in 2012. He is the first popularly elected African ...

, mayor of

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: People * Newton (surname), including a list of people with the surname * ...

* Mike Rodrigues,

* James Vallee, state representative

Primary results

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Sean Bielat, technology executive and nominee for this seat in

=Eliminated in primary

= * Elizabeth Childs, psychiatrist and member of the

School Committee * David Steinhof,

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental doctor, dental physician, dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry, the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. The dentist's supporting team aids in provi ...

=Declined

= *

Jay Barrows Fred Jay Barrows (born April 5, 1956) is the current member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for the 1st Bristol district.http://www.malegislature.gov/People/Profile/FJB1 Massachusetts Legislature profile Barrows has represented the ...

, state representative * Brian Herr, former Hopkinton Selectman * Richard J. Ross, state senator * Tom Wesley, businessman and nominee for the 2nd district in

Primary results

General election

Endorsements

Polling

Predictions

Results

District 5

Democrat

Ed Markey Edward John Markey (born July 11, 1946) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Massachusetts, a seat he has held since 2013. A member of ...

was redistricted from the 7th district, having represented it since 1976.

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

Primary results

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Tom Tierney, consulting actuary

=Eliminated in primary

= * Frank John Addivinola Jr., attorney * Jeff Semon, financial consultant

=Withdrawn

= * Gerry Dembrowski, physician and nominee for the 7th district in

Primary results

General election

Predictions

Results

District 6

Democrat John F. Tierney has represented the 6th district since 1997. Daniel Fishman, a

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

candidate, who has never run for office before also ran. Veteran and military commentator

Seth Moulton Seth Wilbur Moulton (born October 24, 1978) is an American politician and former Marine Corps officer who has been the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 6th congressional district since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, his distr ...

considered running in the general election as an independent, but decided against it in July 2012, citing the short time frame left for him to mount a serious campaign.

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * John F. Tierney, incumbent U.S. Representative

Primary results

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Richard R. Tisei, former Minority Leader of the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

and nominee for lieutenant governor in

=Withdrawn

= * Bill Hudak,

Tea Party A tea party is a social gathering event, typically held in the afternoon, featuring the consumption of tea and light refreshments. Social tea drinking rituals are observed in many cultures worldwide, both historically and in the present day. A ...

-endorsed lawyer and candidate for this seat in

but withdrew on January 23, 2012, to pursue "a business opportunity".

Primary results

General election

Endorsements

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 10, 2012

Polling

Predictions

Results

District 7

In the redistricting Act, this district became a

majority-minority district A majority-minority district is an electoral district, such as a United States congressional district, in which the majority of the constituents in the district are racial or ethnic minorities (as opposed to Non-Hispanic whites in the U.S.). ...

, increasing its reach over several minority precincts near Boston. Democrat

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

, who was redistricted from the 8th district, having represented it since 1999, ran for re-election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

Primary results

Independents

*Karla Romero, founding President and CEO of the non-profit Mass Appeal International and a former

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020. ...

contestant

General election

Predictions

Results

District 8

Democrat Stephen Lynch, who was redistricted from the old 9th district, will run in the 8th district. Democrat William R. Keating, who was redistricted from the old , announced that he would move to

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

(where he already has a summer home), and run there, putting him in the new 9th district (most of which includes his incumbent district) instead of competing against Lynch.

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Stephen Lynch, incumbent U.S. Representative

=Declined

= * William R. Keating, incumbent U.S. Representative

Primary results

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Joe Selvaggi, US Navy veteran of the first Gulf War and small business owner

=Eliminated in primary

= * Matias Temperley,

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

veteran and student

Primary results

General election

Predictions

Results

District 9

There was no incumbent currently residing in this district, but incumbent Democrat William R. Keating, who has represented most of the district for the last two years when it was the , has a summer home there. As discussed above, he moved to the 9th District. Bristol County

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * William R. Keating, incumbent

=Eliminated in primary

= * Sam Sutter, Bristol County

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

=Declined

= * Mark Montigny, state senator * William A. Flanagan, Mayor of Fall River * Scott W. Lang, former mayor of

New Bedford New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, New Bedford had a ...

Therese Murray Therese Murray (born October 10, 1947 in Boston) is an American politician who served as President of the Massachusetts Senate from 2007 to 2015. Murray, a Democrat, was the first woman to lead a house of the Massachusetts General Court. She rep ...

President of the Massachusetts Senate The president of the Massachusetts Senate is the presiding officer. Unlike the United States Congress, in which the vice president of the United States is the ''ex officio'' president of the United States Senate, in Massachusetts, the president ...

* Robert O'Leary, former state senator

Primary results

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Christopher Sheldon, businessman

=Eliminated in primary

= * Adam Chaprales, former

Sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...

Selectman

=Declined

= * Timothy Cruz, Plymouth County District Attorney *

Vinny deMacedo Viriato Manuel Pereira de Macedo (born October 16, 1965), also popularly known as Vinny deMacedo, is a Cape Verdean American politician, and was the Massachusetts State Senate, Massachusetts State Senator for the Plymouth County, Massachusetts, P ...

, state representative * Thomas Hodgson, Bristol County

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

* Jeff Perry, former state representative

Republican nominee for Massachusetts' 10th congressional district will not run.

General election

Predictions

Results

References

External links

Elections Division
of the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth

from OurCampaigns.com
Campaign contributions for U.S. Congressional races in Massachusetts
from

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...

Outside spending
at the

Sunlight Foundation The Sunlight Foundation was an American 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocated for open government. The organization was founded in April 2006 with the goal of increasing transparency and accountability in the United States ...

Local politics
at ''

The Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...

'' * {{United States general elections, 2012

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Ed Markey