The New Massachusetts Congressional Districts
The New Massachusetts Congressional District Map has been released by the State Legislature, drawn by population (727,514 to 727,515 individuals in each district) – the new districts, surprisingly, almost make sense, regardless of the fact that the 2010 Census Guidelines (Suggestion) that Districts be Drawn by Minority Proportion (see figure below).
The Legislature has yet to vote on the proposed changes. The current make up of ten districts by town can be found here at http:malegislature.gov/District/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitileVIII/Chapter57,Section1 . Overviews of the proposed changes are summed up by Wicked Local/Lexington as follows:
U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-10th, would lose the city where he lives -- Quincy -- landing in turf now represented by U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-9th. He also would lose Weymouth, Abington, Hingham, Cohasset, Scituate and Hull. Keating would gain a new swath of territory to the southeast, including Middleborough, Rochester, Wareham, Marion, Mattapoisett, Fairhaven, Acushnet, New Bedford, Westport, Dartmouth, a chunk of Fall River and Halifax from U.S. Rep. Barney Frank's, D-4th, district, as well as Hanson from Lynch's district.
Lynch would gain territory to the east while losing some of his western turf. He would lose Walpole, Medfield and Needham to Frank. He would pick up Quincy from Keating, along with Weymouth, Abington, Hingham, Cohasset, Scituate and Hull. Lynch would lose his section of Hanson to Keating, while gaining a piece of Raynham from Frank.
Frank's district would lose a major piece of its southern territory, while picking up new areas to the west and north. Frank would pick up Milford, Bellingham and Hopedale from Neal. Frank also would gain Franklin, Wrentham, Plainville, North Attleborough, Rehoboth, Swansea and Somerset from U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-3rd. He would pick up a new portion of Fall River while losing much of the area he now represents in the city, while also losing part of Raynham and all of Middleborough, Rochester, Wareham, Marion, Mattapoisett, Fairhaven, Achushnet, New Bedford, Westport, Dartmouth and Halifax to Keating. Frank would also gain Medfield, Walpole and Needham from Lynch's district.
U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-2nd, would pick up a broad swath of the Berkshires and western Massachusetts, while losing much of his territory in the Blackstone Valley and Milford area. He would no longer represent Milford, Hopedale, Mendon, Bellingham, Upton, Northbridge or Uxbridge.
McGovern would see his territory shift significantly to the west and north, losing some of his southern territory. He would pick up Upton, Mendon, a southern portion of Bellingham, Uxbridge and Northbridge from Neal's territory. He would lose Franklin, Medway, Ashland, Holliston, Hopkinton, Southborough, Marlborough and Clinton.
U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas, D-5th, would gain some new territory to the west. She would pick up Clinton and Marlborough from McGovern. She would lose much of her territory in Sudbury, as well as all of Wayland, Billerica and Tewksbury.
U.S. Rep. John Tierney, D-6th, would maintain most of his territory. He would pick up Tewksbury and Billerica from Tsongas.
U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, D-7th, who currently represents Lexington, would expand some of his territory to the west. He would pick up Wayland and much of Sudbury from Tsongas, as well as Southborough, Ashland and Holliston from McGovern. He also would gain new ground in Cambridge.
U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano's, D-8th, district would stretch south to pick up part of Milton and all of Randolph.
U.S. Rep. John Olver, D-1st, who now represents western Massachusetts, previously announced he plans to retire.
It was the timely retirement of John Olver (D-MA1) which allowed for a much less contentious redistricting process.
The city and town changes (the PDF download is available at http://malegislature.gov/DownloadDocument. Richard Neal, now MA 1 is now Congressional Representative of the following:
Adams, Agawam Town, Alford, Ashfield, Becket, Bernardston, Blandford, Brimfield, Brookfield, Buckland, Charlemont, Charlton, Cheshire. Chester, Chesterfield, Chicopee, Clarksburg, Colrain, Conway, Cummington, Dalton, Dudley, East Brookfield (part) ,East Longmeadow, Easthampton Town, Egremont, Florida, Goshen, Granby, Granville, Great Barrington , Hampden, Hancock , Hawley, Heath, Hinsdale , Holland ,Holyoke, Huntington , Lanesborough , Lee, Lenox , Leyden ,Longmeadow, Ludlow, Middlefield Monroe, Monson,, Monterey , Montgomery , Mount Washington, New Ashford, New Marlborough , North Adams, Otis ,Palmer Town , Peru, Pittsfield, Plainfield ,Richmond, Rowe, Russell, Sandisfield, Savoy , Sheffield, Shelburne, South Hadley, Southampton, Southbridge Town, Southwick MA, Springfield, Stockbridge , Sturbridge , Tolland, Tyringham, Wales, Warren, Washington, West Springfield Town, West Stockbridge, Westfield, Westhampton, Wilbraham , Williamsburg Williamstown Windsor and Worthington
Richard Neal’s loss of Northampton is offset by a pickup of the Hilltowns which are, if possible, more Progressive than most areas of the Commonwealth (think very old hippy) – He maintains large population centers of Springfield and Chicopee and picks up Pittsfield. It remains to see if he will be challenged in the 2012 general. In 2010 there were two GOP candidates that ran against Neal, Dr. Jay Fleitman of Northampton, and Tom Wesley of Hopedale, both candidates now reside in the new District 2, and might find it easier to pick off say McGovern. In 2010 Neal did not easily cruise to re-election, having to call in Bill Clinton and campaign hard against Welsey, who came within twelve points of Neal, with no prior political experience. The District originally was projected as safe Democrat with Neal picking up more than 75% of the total vote. With the main challengers out of the way, so to speak, Neal should rest a little easier, unless of course, a challenge comes out of the hilltowns, from a more Progressive (Socialst) candidate than the current Congressman, which is honestly, hard to fathom.
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