2007 Massachusetts's 5th congressional district special election

← 2006

October 16, 2007

2008 →

Massachusetts's 5th congressional district


Nominee	Niki Tsongas	Jim Ogonowski
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	54,363	47,770
Percentage	51.3%	45.1%

U.S. Representative before election

Marty Meehan
Democratic

Elected U.S. Representative

Niki Tsongas
Democratic

Federal government

U.S. President
1788–89 1792 1796 1800 1804 1808 1812 1816 1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 Dem 2008 Dem GOP 2012 2016 Dem GOP 2020 Dem GOP
U.S. Senate
Class 1: 1788 1790 1796 (S) 1796 1798 1800 (S) 1803 1808 (S) 1810 (S) 1811 1813 (S) 1815 1815 (S) 1816 (S) 1818 (S) 1820 1820 (S) 1822 1826 1827 1829 (S) 1833 1839 February 1841 (S) 1845 1851 1851 (S) 1857 1863 1869 1874 (S) 1875 1881 1887 1893 1899 1905 1911 1916 1922 1928 1934 1940 1946 1952 1958 1962 (S) 1964 1970 1976 1982 1988 1994 2000 2006 2010 (S) 2012 2018 2024 Class 2: 1788 1793 1796 1800 (S) 1803 (S) 1805 1810 1811 (S) 1816 1822 (S) 1826 (S) 1828 1835 January 1841 (S) 1841 1845 (S) 1847 1853 1855 (S) 1859 1865 1871 1873 (S) 1877 1883 1889 1895 1901 1905 (S) 1907 1913 1918 1924 1930 1936 1942 1944 (S) 1948 1954 1960 1966 1972 1978 1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 2013 (S) 2014 2020
U.S. House
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State government

Boston

Mayor
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City council
1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021

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]

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

Kevin Thompson – State Constitution Party Secretary from Brockton

Democratic

Eileen Donoghue – City Councilor and former Lowell Mayor
Jamie Eldridge – State Representative from Acton
Barry Finegold – State Representative from Andover
Jim Miceli – State Representative from Wilmington
Niki Tsongas – Dean at Middlesex Community College from Lowell, and widow of Paul Tsongas

Independent

Kurt Hayes – Businessman from Boxborough
Patrick O. Murphy – Brick and stonemason from Lowell^[3]

Republican

Jim Ogonowski – Former Air Force Lt. Colonel from Dracut, and brother of John
Thomas Tierney – Self-Employed Independent Consulting Actuary from Framingham

Withdrawn / not running

Democratic

James DiPaola – Middlesex County Sheriff^[4]
David O'Brien – Democratic National Committee member from Concord^[5]

Republican

Fred Smerlas – Former NFL defensive lineman^[6]
Michael J. Sullivan – Mayor of Lawrence^[7]

Polling

Democratic Primary

Source	Date	Donoghue (D)	Eldridge (D)	Finegold (D)	Miceli (D)	Tsongas (D)
Survey USA	Aug 27–29, 2007	29%	15%	9%	3%	40%
Survey USA	Aug 11–13, 2007	16%	13%	14%	4%	38%
Kiley & Company	Aug 8–9, 2007	18%	16%	13%	4%	34%
JEF Associates	Aug 6–7, 2007	22%	7%	8%	4%	28%
Kiley & Company	July 15, 2007	13%	12%	10%	4%	36%
JEF Associates	Jun 28–30, 2007	17%	10%	13%	4%	26%
Kiley & Company	May 22, 2007	9%	10%	11%	3%	38%
Garin-Hart-Yang Research	May 3–4, 2007	13%	5%	10%	4%	36%	DiPaola (D)	O'Brien (D)
Kiley & Company	Mar 23–24, 2007	9%	9%	8%	3%	35%	6%	3%

Republican Primary

Source	Date	Ogonowski (R)	Tierney (R)
Survey USA	Aug 27–29, 2007	72%	12%

General Election

Source	Date	Ogonowski (R)	Tsongas (D)	Thompson (C)	Hayes (I)	Murphy (I)
Survey USA	Oct 8–10, 2007	42%	51%	0%	2%	4%
RCCC Poll	Oct 1–5, 2007	39%	44%	N/A	N/A	N/A
Survey USA	Sep 7–9, 2007	41%	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
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Niki Tsongas	54,363	51.32	-48.68
	Republican	Jim Ogonowski	47,770	45.10	+45.10
	Independent	Patrick O. Murphy	2,170	2.05	+2.05
	Independent	Kurt Hayes	1,125	1.06	+1.06
	Constitution	Kevin Thompson	494	0.47	0.47
Majority			6,593	6%
Turnout			105,922
	Democratic hold		Swing	46.89% D to R

Democratic Primary

Candidates		Democratic Primary Election, Sep 4
Candidate	Party	Votes	Percent
Niki Tsongas	Democratic	19,811	35.69%
Eileen Donoghue	Democratic	17,373	31.29%
Jamie Eldridge	Democratic	8,041	14.48%
Barry Finegold	Democratic	6,996	12.60%
Jim Miceli	Democratic	3,296	5.94%

Republican Primary

Candidates		Republican Primary Election, Sep 4
Candidate	Party	Votes	Percent
Jim Ogonowski	Republican	12,014	89.04%
Tom Tierney	Republican	1,479	10.96%

References

^ ^a ^b ^c 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.
^ 5th District Elects Tsongas Associated Press
^ Murphy, Matt (June 2, 2007). "Lowell Mason joins rep. race". LowellSun.com. Retrieved June 6, 2007.
^ lowellsun.com
^ eagletribune.com Archived July 30, 2012, at Archive.today
^ "Ogonowski's House bid gets boost". Boston Globe. April 27, 2007.
^ bostonherald.com

External links

Candidate Web Sites

Democratic

Republican

Constitution

Kevin Thompson for Congress web site

Independent

v t e Select elections in Massachusetts
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U.S. Senate Class 1 (with winners)	1788 (Dalton) 1790 (Cabot) s/1796 (Goodhue) 1796 (Goodhue) s/1800 (Mason) 1803 (Adams) 1808 (Lloyd) s/1808 (Lloyd) 1815 (Gore) s/1816 (Ashmun) s/1818 (Mellon) s/1820 (Mills) 1820 (Mills) 1827 (Webster) 1833 (Webster) 1839 (Webster) s/Feb 1841 (Choate) 1845 (Webster) s/1851 (Rantoul) 1851 (Sumner) 1857 (Sumner) 1863 (Sumner) 1869 (Sumner) s/1874 (Washburn) 1875 (Dawes) 1881 (Dawes) 1887 (Dawes) 1893 (Lodge) 1899 (Lodge) 1905 (Lodge) 1911 (Lodge) 1916 (Lodge) 1922 (Lodge) s/1926 (Walsh) 1928 (Walsh) 1934 (Walsh) 1940 (Walsh) 1946 (Lodge Jr.) 1952 (J. Kennedy) 1958 (J. Kennedy) s/1962 (T. Kennedy) 1964 (T. Kennedy) 1970 (T. Kennedy) 1976 (T. Kennedy) 1982 (T. Kennedy) 1988 (T. Kennedy) 1994 (T. Kennedy) 2000 (T. Kennedy) 2006 (T. Kennedy) s/2010 (Brown) 2012 (Warren) 2018 (Warren) 2024 (TBD)
U.S. Senate Class 2 (with winners)	1788 (Strong) 1793 (Strong) s/1796 (Sedgwick) 1798 (Dexter) s/1800 (Foster) s/1803 (Pickering) 1805 (Pickering) s/1811 (Varnum) 1816 (Otis) s/1822 (Lloyd) 1822 (Lloyd) s/1826 (Silsbee) 1828 (Silsbee) 1835 (Davis) Jan 1841 (Bates) 1841 (Bates) s/1845 (Davis) 1847 (Davis) 1853 (Everett) s/1855 (Wilson) 1859 (Wilson) 1865 (Wilson) 1871 (Wilson) s/1873 (Boutwell) 1877 (Hoar) 1883 (Hoar) 1889 (Hoar) 1895 (Hoar) 1901 (Hoar) s/1905 (Crane) 1907 (Crane) 1913 (Weeks) 1918 (Walsh) 1924 (Gillett) 1930 (Coolidge) 1936 (Lodge Jr.) 1942 (Lodge Jr.) s/1944 (Saltonstall) 1948 (Saltonstall) 1954 (Saltonstall) 1960 (Saltonstall) 1966 (Brooke) 1972 (Brooke) 1978 (Tsongas) 1984 (Kerry) 1990 (Kerry) 1996 (Kerry) 2002 (Kerry) 2008 (Kerry) s/2013 (Markey) 2014 (Markey) 2020 (Markey)
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"s/" = Special election See also: Political party strength in Massachusetts

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This page was last edited on 16 January 2021, at 01:13

2007 Massachusetts's 5th congressional district special election

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

Candidates

Constitution

Democratic

Independent

Republican

Withdrawn / not running

Democratic

Republican

Polling

Democratic Primary

Republican Primary

General Election

Results

General Election

Democratic Primary

Republican Primary

See also

References

External links

Candidate Web Sites

Democratic

Republican

Constitution

Independent