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 district starting with the elections of 2012, with the new 3rd district largely taking the place of the old 5th.[3] The 5th district covers many of the communities represented in the old 7th district. As of 2010, the population of the 5th congressional district was 727,515. On July 15, 2013, Ed Markey resigned from the seat to become the junior Senator from Massachusetts. On December 10, 2013, Democrat Katherine Clark won a special election to fill the seat for the remainder of the 113th Congress.[4] She was sworn into office on December 12, 2013.

Massachusetts's 5th congressional district
Massachusetts's 5th congressional district since January 3, 2013
Representative	Katherine Clark D–Melrose
Population (2019)	768,043
Median household income	$106,311[1]
Cook PVI	D+18[2]

Demographics

The district has been in Democratic hands without interruption since 1975. Before Paul Tsongas' victory that year, it had only elected three Democrats in its entire existence and had been in Republican hands since 1895.

It was one of the more moderate districts in heavily Democratic Massachusetts before redistricting in 2013. In state races, it supported Republican candidates for Governor William Weld, Paul Celluci, and Mitt Romney. In the 2007 special election to replace Marty Meehan, Republican candidate Jim Ogonowski ran an unexpectedly strong race, ultimately losing 51-45%.

Election results from presidential races

Year	Office	Result
2000	President	Gore 57 - 36%
2004	President	Kerry 57 - 41%
2008	President	Obama 66.2 - 32%
2012	President	Obama 65.2 - 33%
2016	President	Clinton 69.3 - 25.7%
2020	President	Biden 72.7 - 25.1%

Cities and towns in the district

Cities and towns in the district since 2013

Map of the 5th congressional district (in purple), from 2013 to 2023

Map of Cambridge, noting Wards, Precincts and congressional districts, including the 5th district (in green) and the 7th district (in orange), starting in 2013.[5]

In Middlesex County:

Arlington, Ashland, Belmont, Cambridge: Ward 3 Precinct 2A, Ward 4 Precincts 2 and 3, Wards 6, 7, 8, and 9, Ward 10 Precincts 1 and 2, Framingham, Holliston, Lexington, Lincoln, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Natick, Sherborn, Stoneham, Sudbury: Precincts 1A, 2, 3, 4, and 5, Waltham, Watertown, Wayland, Weston, Winchester and Woburn.

In Suffolk County:

Revere, and Winthrop.

In Worcester County:

Southborough.

1840s

"The towns of Ashburnham, Auburn, Barre, Brookfield, Charlton, Dana, Douglas, Dudley, Gardner, Grafton, Hardwick, Holden, Hubbardston, Leicester, Mendon, Milford, Millbury, New Braintree, North Brookfield, Northbridge, Oakham, Oxford, Paxton, Petersham, Phillipston, Princeton, Rutland, Southbridge, Spencer, Sturbridge, Sutton, Templeton, Upton, Uxbridge, Warren, Webster, West Boylston, Westminster, Winchendon, and Worcester, in the County of Worcester."[6]

1850s

"The wards numbered one, two, three, four, five, and six, in the city of Boston, and the towns of Chelsea and North Chelsea, and Winthrop, in the county of Suffolk; and the city of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex."[7]

1870s

"Arlington, Belmont, Wards, 3, 4, and 5, Boston, Burlington, Everett, Lexington, Lynn, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Nahant, Saugus, Somerville, Stoneham, Swampscott, Wakefield, Waltham, Winchester, and Woburn."[8]

1910s-1920s

"Essex County: Towns of Andover and Methuen. Middlesex County: Cities of Lowell and Woburn; towns of Acton, Ayer, Bedford, Billerica, Boxboro, Burlington, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, Dracut, Dunstable, Groton, Hudson, Lincoln, Littleton, Maynard, Pepperell, Reading, Shirley, Stow, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro, Westford, and Wilmington. Worcester County: Towns of Berlin, Bolton, Harvard, and Northboro."[9][10]

1970s

"Essex County: City of Lawrence. Towns of Andover and Methuen. Middlesex County: City of Lowell. Towns of Acton, Ashby, Bedford, Billerica, Boxborough, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, Dracut, Dunstable, Groton, Lexington, Littleton, North Reading, Pepperell, Tewksbury, Townsend, Tyngsborough, Westford, and Wilmington."[11]

2003-2013

The district from 2003 to 2013

In Essex County:

Andover, Haverhill, Lawrence, Methuen.

In Middlesex County:

Acton, Ayer, Billerica, Boxborough, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, Dracut, Dunstable, Groton, Hudson, Littleton, Lowell, Maynard, Shirley, Stow, Sudbury, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Wayland (Precincts 1, 3, and 4), Westford.

In Worcester County:

Berlin, Bolton, Harvard, Lancaster.

Recent election results

1990 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Chester G. Atkins	110,232	49.85
	Republican	John MacGovern	101,017	45.68
	Other		9,891	4.47
Turnout			221,140
	Democratic hold		Swing

1992 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Marty Meehan	133,844	52.17	+2.32
	Republican	Paul W. Cronin	96,206	37.50	-8.18
	Independent	Mary Farinelli	19,077	7.44	+7.44
	Independent	David E. Coleman	7,214	2.81	+2.81
	Write-in		223	0.09	-4.38
Turnout			256,564
	Democratic hold		Swing	+2.32

1994 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Marty Meehan	140,725	69.83	+17.66
	Republican	David E. Coleman	60,734	30.14	-7.36
	Write-in		65	0.03	-0.06
Turnout			201,524
	Democratic hold		Swing	+17.66

1996 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Marty Meehan	183,429	99.08	+29.25
	Republican	Unopposed			-30.14
	Write-in		1,708	0.92	+0.89
Turnout			185,137
	Democratic hold		Swing	+29.25

1998 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Marty Meehan	127,418	70.70	-28.38
	Republican	David E. Coleman	52,725	29.25	+29.25
	Write-in		87	0.05	-0.87
Turnout			180,230
	Democratic hold		Swing	-28.38

2000 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Marty Meehan	199,601	98.02	+27.32
	Republican	Unopposed			-29.25
	Write-in		4,040	1.98	+1.93
Turnout			203,641
	Democratic hold		Swing	+27.32

2002 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Marty Meehan	122,562	60.15	-37.87
	Republican	Charles McCarthy	69,337	34.03	+34.03
	Libertarian	Ilana Freedman	11,729	5.76	+5.76
	Write-in		149	0.07	-1.91
Turnout			203,777
	Democratic hold		Swing	-37.87

2004 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Marty Meehan	179,652	66.99	+6.84
	Republican	Thomas Tierney	88,232	32.90	-1.13
	Write-in		305	0.11	+0.04
Turnout			268,189
	Democratic hold		Swing	+6.84

2006 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Marty Meehan	159,120	98.98	+31.99
	Republican	Unopposed			-32.90
	Write-in		3,152	1.02	+0.91
Turnout			216,832
	Democratic hold		Swing	+31.99

2007 Special election, 2007

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Niki Tsongas	54,363	51.32	-47.66
	Republican	Jim Ogonowski	47,770	45.10	+45.10
	Independent	Patrick Murphy	2,170	2.05	+2.05
	Independent	Kurt Hayes	1,125	1.06	+1.06
	Constitution	Kevin Thompson	494	0.47	+0.47
Turnout			105,922
	Democratic hold		Swing	-47.66

2008 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Niki Tsongas	225,947	98.71	+37.39
	Republican	Unopposed			-45.10
	All Others		2,960	1.29	-2.29
Turnout			302,397
	Democratic hold		Swing	+37.39

2010 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Niki Tsongas	122,858	54.84	-43.87
	Republican	Jonathan A. Golnik	94,646	42.25	+42.25
	Independent	Dale E. Brown	4,387	1.96	+1.96
	Independent	Robert M. Clark	1,991	0.89	+0.89
	All Others		147	0.07	-1.22
Turnout			229,647
	Democratic hold		Swing	-43.87

2012 election[12][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ed Markey (incumbent)	257,490	75.5
	Republican	Tom Tierney	82,944	24.3
	n/a	Write-ins	675	0.2
Total votes			341,109	100.0
	Democratic hold

2014 election[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Katherine Clark (incumbent)	182,100	98.3
	n/a	Write-ins	3,159	1.7
Total votes			185,259	100.0
	Democratic hold

2016 election [15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Katherine Clark (Incumbent)	285,606	98.6
	n/a	Write-ins	4,201	1.4
Total votes			289,807	100.0
	Democratic hold

2018 election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Katherine Clark (incumbent)	236,243	75.9
	Republican	John Hugo	74,856	24.0
	Write-in		225	0.1
Total votes			311,324	100.0
	Democratic hold

2020 election[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Katherine Clark (incumbent)	294,427	74.3
	Republican	Caroline Colarusso	101,351	25.6
	Write-in		405	0.1
Total votes			396,183	100.0
	Democratic hold

List of members representing the district

Member (District home)	Party	Years ↑	Cong ress	Electoral history	District location
George Partridge (Duxbury)	Pro-Administration	March 4, 1789 – August 14, 1790	1st	Elected in 1788. Resigned.	1789–1793 Barnstable County and Plymouth County
Vacant		August 15, 1790 – March 3, 1791
Shearjashub Bourne (Boston)	Pro-Administration	March 4, 1791 – March 3, 1793	2nd	Elected in 1790. Redistricted to the 3rd district.
District unused		March 4, 1793 – March 3, 1795	3rd
Nathaniel Freeman Jr. (Sandwich)	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1795 – March 3, 1799	4th 5th	Elected in 1794. Re-elected in 1796. Retired.	1795–1803 "1st Southern district"
Lemuel Williams (New Bedford)	Federalist	March 4, 1799 – March 3, 1803	6th 7th	Elected in 1799. Re-elected in 1800. Redistricted to the 8th district.
Thomas Dwight (Springfield)	Federalist	March 4, 1803 – March 3, 1805	8th	Elected in 1802. Retired.	1803–1823 "Hampshire South district"
William Ely (Springfield)	Federalist	March 4, 1805 – March 3, 1815	9th 10th 11th 12th 13th	Elected in 1804. Re-elected in 1806. Re-elected in 1808. Re-elected in 1810. Re-elected in 1812. Retired.
Elijah H. Mills (Northampton)	Federalist	March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1819	14th 15th	Elected in 1814. Re-elected in 1816. Lost re-election.
Samuel Lathrop (West Springfield)	Federalist	March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1823	16th 17th	Elected in 1819 on the second ballot. Re-elected in 1820. Redistricted to the 8th district.
Jonas Sibley (Sutton)	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825	18th	Elected in 1823 on the second ballot. Lost re-election.	1823–1833 "Worcester South district"
John Davis (Worcester)	Anti-Jacksonian	March 4, 1825 – January 14, 1834	19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd	Elected in 1825. Re-elected in 1826. Re-elected in 1828. Re-elected in 1830. Re-elected in 1833. Resigned to become Governor of Massachusetts.
					1833–1843 [data unknown/missing]
Vacant		January 15, 1834 – February 16, 1834	23rd
Levi Lincoln Jr. (Worcester)	Anti-Jacksonian	February 17, 1834 – March 3, 1837	23rd 24th 25th 26th	Elected to finish Davis's term. Re-elected later in 1834. Re-elected in 1836. Resigned to become Collector of the Port of Boston.
	Whig	March 4, 1837 – March 16, 1841
Vacant		March 17, 1841 – May 2, 1841	27th
Charles Hudson (Westminster)	Whig	May 3, 1841 – March 3, 1849	27th 28th 29th 30th	Elected to finish Lincoln's term. Re-elected late in 1843. Re-elected in 1844. Re-elected in 1846. Lost re-election.
					1843–1853 [data unknown/missing]
Charles Allen (Worcester)	Free Soil	March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1853	31st 32nd	Elected late in 1849.[17] Re-elected late in 1851.[18] Retired.
William Appleton (Boston)	Whig	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	33rd	Redistricted from the 1st district and re-elected in 1852. Lost re-election.	1853–1863 [data unknown/missing]
Anson Burlingame (Boston)	American	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857	34th 35th 36th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
	Republican	March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1861
William Appleton (Boston)	Constitutional Unionist	March 4, 1861 – September 27, 1861	37th	[data unknown/missing] Resigned because of failing health.
Vacant		September 28, 1861 – December 1, 1861
Samuel Hooper[19] (Boston)	Republican	December 2, 1861 – March 3, 1863		Elected to finish Appleton's term. Redistricted to the 4th district.
John B. Alley (Lynn)	Republican	March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1867	38th 39th	Redistricted from the 6th district and re-elected in 1862. [data unknown/missing]	1863–1873 [data unknown/missing]
Benjamin F. Butler[20] (Lowell)	Republican	March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1873	40th 41st 42nd	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 6th district.
Daniel W. Gooch (Melrose)	Republican	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875	43rd	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.	1873–1883 [data unknown/missing]
Nathaniel P. Banks[21] (Waltham)	Independent	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877	44th 45th	Elected in 1874. Lost renomination.
	Republican	March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1879
Selwyn Z. Bowman[22] (Somerville)	Republican	March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1883	46th 47th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
Leopold Morse (Boston)	Democratic	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1885	48th	Redistricted from the 4th district and re-elected in 1882. Retired.	1883–1893 [data unknown/missing]
Edward D. Hayden (Woburn)	Republican	March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1889	49th 50th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
Nathaniel P. Banks (Waltham)	Republican	March 4, 1889 – March 3, 1891	51st	Elected in 1888. Retired.
Sherman Hoar (Concord)	Democratic	March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1893	52nd	[data unknown/missing] Declined renomination.
Moses T. Stevens (North Andover)	Democratic	March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1895	53rd	Redistricted from the 8th district and re-elected in 1892. [data unknown/missing]	1893–1903 [data unknown/missing]
William S. Knox[23] (Lawrence)	Republican	March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1903	54th 55th 56th 57th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
Butler Ames[24] (Lowell)	Republican	March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1913	58th 59th 60th 61st 62nd	[data unknown/missing] Retired.	1903–1913 [data unknown/missing]
John Jacob Rogers (Lowell)	Republican	March 4, 1913 – March 28, 1925	63rd 64th 65th 66th 67th 68th 69th	[data unknown/missing] Died.	1913–1933 [data unknown/missing]
Vacant		March 28, 1925 – June 30, 1925	69th
Edith Nourse Rogers[25] (Lowell)	Republican	June 30, 1925 – September 10, 1960	69th 70th 71st 72nd 73rd 74th 75th 76th 77th 78th 79th 80th 81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th	Elected to finish her husband's term. Died.
					1933–1943 [data unknown/missing]
					1943–1953 [data unknown/missing]
					1953–1963 [data unknown/missing]
Vacant		September 10, 1960 – January 3, 1961	86th
F. Bradford Morse[26] (Lowell)	Republican	January 3, 1961 – May 1, 1972	87th 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd	[data unknown/missing] Resigned to become U.N. Under Secretary General for Political and General Assembly Affairs.
					1963–1973 [data unknown/missing]
Vacant		May 1, 1972 – January 3, 1973	92nd
Paul W. Cronin (Andover)	Republican	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1975	93rd	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.	1973–1983 [data unknown/missing]
Paul Tsongas (Lowell)	Democratic	January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1979	94th 95th	[data unknown/missing] Retired to run for U.S. senator.
James Shannon (Lawrence)	Democratic	January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1983	96th 97th 98th	[data unknown/missing] Retired to run for U.S. senator.
		January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1985			1983–1993 [data unknown/missing]
Chester G. Atkins[27] (Concord)	Democratic	January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1993	99th 100th 101st 102nd	[data unknown/missing] Lost renomination.
Marty Meehan (Lowell)	Democratic	January 3, 1993 – July 1, 2007	103rd 104th 105th 106th 107th 108th 109th 110th	[data unknown/missing] Resigned to become Chancellor of University of Massachusetts Lowell.	1993–2003 [data unknown/missing]
					2003–2013 [data unknown/missing]
Vacant		July 1, 2007 – October 16, 2007	110th
Niki Tsongas (Lowell)	Democratic	October 16, 2007 – January 3, 2013	110th 111th 112th	Elected to finish Meehan's term. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Redistricted to the 3rd district.
Ed Markey (Malden)	Democratic	January 3, 2013 – July 15, 2013	113th	Redistricted from the 7th district and re-elected in 2012. Resigned when elected U.S. senator.	2013–present [data unknown/missing]
Vacant		July 15, 2013 – December 10, 2013
Katherine Clark (Melrose)	Democratic	December 10, 2013 – Present	113th 114th 115th 116th 117th	Elected to finish Markey's term. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020.
Member (District home)	Party	Years ↑	Cong ress	Electoral history	District location

References

1. https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=25&cd=05
2. "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
3. http://www.sec.state.ma.us/spr/sprcat/catpdf2010/cong2010/CongressionalDistrict_2011State.pdf Access date: March 28, 2012.
4. "Elections: Special State Election". www.sec.state.ma.us. Archived from the original on March 16, 2018. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
5. "pdf". cambridgema.gov. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
6. "State Apportionment". Massachusetts Register ... for 1843. Boston: Loring.
7. "Congressional Districts". Massachusetts Register 1862. Boston: Adams, Sampson, & Co.
8. "Congressional Districts of Massachusetts". Massachusetts Register and Business Directory, 1878. Boston: Sampson, Davenport, and Co.
9. "Massachusetts". Official Congressional Directory: 64th Congress (2nd ed.). Washington DC: Government Printing Office. 1916.
10. "Massachusetts". Official Congressional Directory: 69th Congress. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. 1926.
11. "Massachusetts", 1977 Official Congressional Directory: 95th Congress, Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1977
12. http://electionstats.state.ma.us/elections/search/year_from:2012/year_to:2012/office_id:5/stage:General
13. The totals do not include Blank/Scatterings Ballots although they were reported.
15. "Massachusetts Secretary of State General Election Results 2016". Massachusetts Secretary of State. November 8, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
16. "2020 - US House - All General Election Results". Massachusetts Election Statistics. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
17. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=726121
18. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=726122
19. "Massachusetts". Congressional Directory for the Second Session of the Thirty-Seventh Congress. Washington DC: House of Representatives. 1861. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016.
20. Ben. Perley Poore (1869). "Massachusetts". Congressional Directory for the First Session of the Forty-First Congress (2nd ed.). Washington DC: Government Printing Office.
21. Ben. Perley Poore (1878). "Massachusetts". Congressional Directory: 45th Congress (3rd ed.). Washington DC: Government Printing Office. Archived from the original on March 17, 2016.
22. Ben. Perley Poore (1882). "Massachusetts". Congressional Directory: 47th Congress (3rd ed.). Washington DC: Government Printing Office.
23. L.A. Coolidge (1897). "Massachusetts". Official Congressional Directory: Fifty-Fifth Congress. Washington DC: Government Printing Office.
24. A.J. Halford (1909). "Massachusetts". Congressional Directory: 60th Congress (2nd ed.). Washington DC: Government Printing Office.
25. "Massachusetts". Official Congressional Directory: 75th Congress (2nd ed.). Washington DC: Government Printing Office. 1938.
26. "Massachusetts". Official Congressional Directory: 90th Congress. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. 1968.
27. "Massachusetts". 1991-1992 Official Congressional Directory: 102nd Congress. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. 1991.

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

External links

• Rose Institute of State and Local Government, "Massachusetts: 2010 Redistricting Changes: Fifth District", Redistricting by State, Claremont, CA: Claremont McKenna College, archived from the original on September 15, 2020
• "Our Campaigns - United States - Massachusetts - MA - District 05". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved December 31, 2020.

Maps

• Map of Massachusetts's 5th Congressional District, via Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth

Election results

• CNN.com 2004 election results
• CNN.com 2006 election results
• Associated Press 2007 election results
• Massachusetts Elections Division 2008 Return of Votes