Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

held a special election to fill a vacancy in

Massachusetts's 5th congressional district Massachusetts's 5th congressional district is a congressional district in eastern Massachusetts. The district is represented by Katherine Clark. Massachusetts congressional redistricting after the 2010 census has changed the borders of the distri ...

on October 16, 2007. 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 di ...

won election to Congress, defeating Republican Jim Ogonowski in an election that was closer than expected.5th District Elects Tsongas
Associated Press

Marty Meehan Martin Thomas Meehan (born December 30, 1956) is an American academic administrator, politician, and attorney. Since July 2015, Meehan has served as the President of the University of Massachusetts after serving as Chancellor of the University of ...

had been the district's Representative to Congress since 1993. He announced his resignation in May 2007 (effective July 1), allowing him to become the next Chancellor of the

University of Massachusetts Lowell The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell and UML) is a public research university in Lowell, Massachusetts, with a satellite campus in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It is the northernmost member of the University of Massachusetts public u ...

. Meehan had last won re-election in 2006, when he ran unopposed. The district was considered to be strongly Democratic, as it voted 58% for the Democratic candidate (

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

) in the most recent presidential election. In addition, Massachusetts had not elected a Republican to Congress since

Peter Blute Peter I. Blute (born January 28, 1956) is a former American politician who served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the United States House of Representatives. He served two terms, between January 3, 1993, and January 3 ...

and

Peter Torkildsen Peter Gerard Torkildsen (born January 28, 1958) is an American Republican Party politician from Massachusetts. He represented the 13th Essex district, including his hometown of Danvers, in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1985 ...

were last elected to office in 1994 (both were defeated in 1996). No Republican had held the 5th congressional district's seat since

Paul W. Cronin Paul William Cronin (March 14, 1938 – April 5, 1997) was a one-term congressman of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts. Cronin was born in Boston, Massachusetts on March 14, 1938 and graduated from Boston University in 1962 a ...

departed from office in 1975 after his defeat by Democrat

Paul Tsongas Paul Efthemios Tsongas (; February 14, 1941 – January 18, 1997) was an American politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1979 until 1985 and in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 until 197 ...

in 1974. A

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

was held on September 4, 2007 to determine each political party's nominee for the general election. Niki Tsongas won the Democratic nomination and Jim Ogonowski won the Republican nomination. Tsongas won the general election, held on October 16, 2007, with 51% of the vote; Ogonowski received 45%.

Candidates

''All candidates for the election are listed alphabetically first by party, then by name. Bold is primary winners and general election candidates.''

Constitution

* Kevin Thompson – State Constitution Party Secretary from Brockton

Democratic

Eileen Donoghue Eileen Donoghue (born 1954 in Holyoke, Massachusetts) is an American politician who is the former city manager of Lowell, Massachusetts (2018–2022), a former member of the Massachusetts Senate, where she has represented the First Middlesex Di ...

– City Councilor and former Lowell Mayor *

Jamie Eldridge James Bradley Eldridge (born August 11, 1973) is an American politician and lawyer. He serves as a Democratic member of the Massachusetts Senate from the Middlesex and Worcester District. Eldridge previously served three terms in the Massachuse ...

–

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 Sta ...

from Acton *

Barry Finegold Barry R. Finegold (March 3, 1971 in Norwood, Massachusetts) currently serves as a Democratic member of the Massachusetts Senate representing the Second Essex and Middlesex district since 2019. He previously served from January 2011 to January 2 ...

–

from

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * And ...

* Jim Miceli –

from Wilmington *

– Dean at Middlesex Community College from Lowell, and widow of Paul Tsongas

Independent

* Kurt Hayes – Businessman from Boxborough * Patrick O. Murphy – Brick and stonemason from Lowell

Republican

* Jim Ogonowski – Former Air Force Lt. Colonel from

Dracut Dracut is a town in Middlesex County. At the 2020 census, the town's population was 32,617, making it the second most populous town in Massachusetts with an open town meeting system of governance. The town covers a total area of 21.36 square ...

, and brother of

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

*Thomas Tierney – Self-Employed Independent Consulting Actuary from

Framingham Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Bost ...

Withdrawn / not running

Democratic

James DiPaola James Vincent DiPaola (May 5, 1953 November 26, 2010) was county sheriff of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from 1996 until his death in 2010. He had served as a Malden police officer for 18 years and was a Massachusetts state representative ...

– Middlesex County Sheriff * David O'Brien –

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well ...

member from

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

Republican

* Fred Smerlas – Former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the maj ...

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

* Michael J. Sullivan – Mayor of Lawrencebostonherald.com
/ref>

Polling

Democratic Primary

Republican Primary

General Election

Results

Bold indicates winner of nomination. Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20120207164837/http://www.thebostonchannel.com/politics/14003157/detail.html

General Election

Democratic Primary

Republican Primary

References

External links

Candidate Web Sites

Candidates

Constitution

Democratic

Independent

Republican

Withdrawn / not running

Democratic

Republican

Polling

Democratic Primary

Republican Primary

General Election

Results

General Election

Democratic Primary

Republican Primary

See also

References

External links

Candidate Web Sites

Democratic

Republican

Constitution

Independent