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Current Representative Katherine Clark (D–Melrose) | ||
Massachusetts' 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. The 5th district had covered 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. She was sworn in to office on December 12, 2013.
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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%.
Cities and towns in the district since 2013
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."
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."
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."
1910s-1920s
"Essex County: Towns of Andover and Methuen. Middlesex County: Cities of Lowell and Woburn; towns of Acton, Ayer, Bedford, Blllerica, 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."
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."
2003-2013
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.