2007 Massachusetts's 5th congressional district special election

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2007 Massachusetts's 5th congressional district special election
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  2006 October 16, 2007 2008  

Massachusetts's 5th congressional district
  Niki Tsongas 113th Congress.jpg
Nominee Niki Tsongas Jim Ogonowski
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote54,36347,770
Percentage51.3%45.1%

U.S. Representative before election

Marty Meehan
Democratic

Elected U.S. Representative

Niki Tsongas
Democratic

Massachusetts held a special election to fill a vacancy in Massachusetts's 5th congressional district on October 16, 2007. [1] Democrat Niki Tsongas won election to Congress, defeating Republican Jim Ogonowski in an election that was closer than expected. [2]

Contents

Marty Meehan 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. [1] 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) in the most recent presidential election. In addition, Massachusetts had not elected a Republican to Congress since Peter Blute and Peter Torkildsen 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 departed from office in 1975 after his defeat by Democrat Paul Tsongas in 1974.

A primary election was held on September 4, 2007, to determine each political party's nominee for the general election. [1] 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

Democratic

Independent

Republican

Withdrawn / not running

Democratic

Republican

Polling

Democratic primary

SourceDateDonoghue (D)Eldridge (D)Finegold (D)Miceli (D)Tsongas (D)
Survey USA [8] Aug 27–29, 200729%15%9%3%40%
Survey USA [9] Aug 11–13, 200716%13%14%4%38%
Kiley & Company [10] Aug 8–9, 200718%16%13%4%34%
JEF Associates [11] Aug 6–7, 200722%7%8%4%28%
Kiley & Company [12] July 15, 200713%12%10%4%36%
JEF Associates [13] Jun 28–30, 200717%10%13%4%26%
Kiley & Company [12] May 22, 20079%10%11%3%38%
Garin-Hart-Yang Research [14] May 3–4, 200713%5%10%4%36%DiPaola (D)O'Brien (D)
Kiley & Company [15] Mar 23–24, 20079%9%8%3%35%6%3%

Republican primary

SourceDateOgonowski (R)Tierney (R)
Survey USA [8] Aug 27–29, 200772%12%

General Election

SourceDateOgonowski (R)Tsongas (D)Thompson (C)Hayes (I)Murphy (I)
Survey USA [16] Oct 8–10, 200742%51%0%2%4%
RCCC Poll [17] Oct 1–5, 200739%44%N/AN/AN/A
Survey USA [18] Sep 7–9, 200741%51%2%2%1%

Results

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

General Election

Massachusetts's 5th congressional district special election, 2007
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Niki Tsongas 54,363 51.32 −48.68
Republican Jim Ogonowski 47,77045.10+45.10
Independent Patrick O. Murphy 2,1702.05+2.05
Independent Kurt Hayes1,1251.06+1.06
Constitution Kevin Thompson4940.470.47
Majority6,5936%
Turnout 105,922
Democratic hold Swing 46.89% D to R

Democratic primary

CandidatesDemocratic Primary Election, Sep 4
CandidatePartyVotesPercent
Niki TsongasDemocratic19,81135.69%
Eileen DonoghueDemocratic17,37331.29%
Jamie EldridgeDemocratic8,04114.48%
Barry FinegoldDemocratic6,99612.60%
Jim MiceliDemocratic3,2965.94%

Republican primary

CandidatesRepublican Primary Election, Sep 4
CandidatePartyVotesPercent
Jim OgonowskiRepublican12,01489.04%
Tom TierneyRepublican1,47910.96%

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Giroux, Greg (May 9, 2007). "Massachusetts Rep. Meehan Sets Date to Vacate Seat". CQPolitics.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved May 9, 2007.
  2. 5th District Elects Tsongas Associated Press
  3. Murphy, Matt (June 2, 2007). "Lowell Mason joins rep. race". LowellSun.com. Retrieved June 6, 2007.
  4. lowellsun.com
  5. eagletribune.com Archived July 30, 2012, at archive.today
  6. "Ogonowski's House bid gets boost". Boston Globe. April 27, 2007.
  7. bostonherald.com
  8. 1 2 Survey USA
  9. Survey USA
  10. Kiley & Company
  11. JEF Associates
  12. 1 2 Kiley & Company [usurped]
  13. JEF Associates
  14. Garin-Hart-Yang Research
  15. Kiley & Company
  16. Survey USA
  17. RCCC Poll
  18. Survey USA

Candidate Web Sites

Democratic

Republican

Constitution

Independent