Peter Ignatius Blute (born January 28, 1956) is an American former politician who served as a Republican member of the

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 ...

. He served two terms, between January 3, 1993, and January 3, 1997, representing Massachusetts' 3rd congressional district. As of 2024, Blute and colleague

Peter G. 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 ...

remain the last Republicans elected to serve in the United States House delegation from Massachusetts.

Early life and career

Blute was born in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

, one of 11 siblings. He grew up and currently lives in

Shrewsbury, Massachusetts Shrewsbury (/ˈʃruzberi/ ''SHROOZ-bury'') is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 38,325 according to the 2020 United States census, in nearly 15,000 households. Incorporated in 1727, Shrewsbury prospere ...

, where he attended St. John's High School. He earned his B.A. at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

in 1978. He was the owner of a sports promotion and marketing firm, and then a marketing representative for The Burdett School. Blute was elected to the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

in 1986 and served until 1993 when he was elected as a Republican to the 103rd Congress and then reelected to the

104th Congress The 104th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 19 ...

. A Republican, he defeated 9-term incumbent

Joseph Early Joseph Daniel Early (January 31, 1933 – November 9, 2012) was an American politician. He represented the third district of Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 to 1993. Early life Early was born in Worcester, Massa ...

, who is also a St. John's High School alumnus, in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

to become the first Republican to represent this district since 1947. After two terms in the House, Blute was defeated by current

Congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

James P. McGovern James Patrick McGovern (born November 20, 1959) is an American politician who has been a member of the United States House of Representatives since 1997, representing since 2013. A Democrat, he is the ranking member of the House Rules Committee, ...

in 1996 in a reelection bid for the

105th Congress The 105th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1997, ...

. Since Blute's defeat, no other Massachusetts Republican has been elected to the House.

After Congress

From 1997 to 1999, Blute served as executive director of the

Massachusetts Port Authority Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) is the port authority for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It owns and operates three airports, Logan International Airport, Hanscom Field, and Worcester Regional Airport, and public terminals in the Po ...

(MassPort). His tenure at MassPort came to an end following revelations of a workday "booze cruise", originally paid for with Massport funds and billed as a "survey" of

Boston Harbor Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, located adjacent to Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the Northeastern United States. History 17th century Since its dis ...

, during which a female passenger, actress Gidget Churchill, aboard the vessel with Blute exposed her breasts to a ''

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 ...

'' photographer. Questions remain as to why Churchill exposed herself and who notified the local media as to the time and date of the cruise. Blute was then a radio talk show host for

WRKO WRKO (680 AM) is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts, serving Greater Boston and much of surrounding New England. Owned by iHeartMedia, WRKO is a Class B AM station that provides secondary coverage to portio ...

Boston from 5:30 to 9 am, co-hosting with Andy Moes from 1999 to 2001,

John Osterlind Rebecca Pratt (March 10, 1967 – December 29, 2022) was an American radio broadcaster. A transgender woman, Pratt was well known professionally as John Osterlind. Biography Pratt was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, on March 10, 1967. She graduat ...

from 2001 to 2003, and

Scott Allen Miller Scott Allen Miller (also known as Scotto) has worked in radio since 1992, doing stints as a disc jockey, a producer, and a talk radio host in such places as Kansas City, Tulsa, Los Angeles, and Albany, New York. He was most recently the morning dr ...

from 2003 until he left WRKO on October 3, 2005. He moved on to AM 830

WCRN WCRN (830 AM) is a radio station in Worcester, Massachusetts, owned by Carter Broadcasting. The station broadcasts with a transmitter power output of 50,000 watts and can be heard from Maine to Providence, Rhode Island, and from Boston to Spring ...

Worcester in early 2006, and hosted the station's 6 to 9 am drive-time program until leaving WCRN on May 27, 2011. On December 21, 2011, Blute was named deputy chairman of the

Massachusetts Republican Party The Massachusetts Republican Party (MassGOP) is the Massachusetts branch of the U.S. Republican Party. Originally, the party was formed in 1854. Soon after its founding, the party quickly became the dominant party in the state with Massachuse ...

Family

Blute is the son of Dr. Robert Blute and Ann-Marie Blute, a Dame of Malta. Blute is one of eleven siblings. One of his sisters, Paula Ebben, is a news anchor for

WBZ-TV WBZ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent WSBK-TV (channel 38). Bo ...

. Blute's grandfather, Paul H. Hines, served as state representative and as an aide to Mayor John Hynes. His uncle, Peter F. Hines, served on the

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 ...

from 1958 to 1968 and was a candidate for

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

. In 2005, ''Boston'' magazine ranked the Blute family the 10th out of 50 families "that run oston.

Electoral history

*1992 Race for 3rd Massachusetts US Congressional District **Rep.

(D), 44.3% **Peter Blute (R), 50.4% **Others, 5.3% *1994 Race for 3rd Massachusetts US Congressional District **Rep. Peter Blute (R), 54.6% **Kevin O'Sullivan (D), 44.2% **Others, 1.2% *1996 Race for 3rd Massachusetts US Congressional District **Rep. Peter Blute (R), 45.4% **

(D), 52.9% **Others, 1.7%

References

External links

2001-11-16 Episode of WGBH's "Greater Boston"
detailing the MassPort "booze cruise" incident.
"Blute says he won't challenge Kennedy"
Boston Globe, 2006-02-24 * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Blute, Peter 1956 births Living people American talk radio hosts Boston College alumni Radio personalities from Massachusetts Republican Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Politicians from Worcester, Massachusetts People from Shrewsbury, Massachusetts Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts Massachusetts Port Authority people 20th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives