Massachusetts's 5th congressional district special election, 2007

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]

Incumbent representative Marty Meehan resigned, effective July 1, 2007, to become the next Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Lowell.^[1] Meehan last won re-election in 2006 with 99.9% of the vote; he was unopposed.

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 primary race and Jim Ogonowski won the Republican primary race.

This district is regarded as strongly Democratic as it voted 58% for John Kerry for President in 2004. Massachusetts has not elected a Republican to Congress since Peter Blute and Peter Torkildsen were last elected to office in 1994: they both were defeated in 1996. No Republican has held this seat since Paul W. Cronin departed from office in 1975, after his defeat by Democrat Paul Tsongas in 1974.

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 Murphy - Bricklayer from Lowell^[3]

Republican

• Jim Ogonowski - Former Air Force Lt. Colonel from Dracut
• 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Withdrawn / not running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	Jul 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: 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 Murphy	2,170	2.05	+2.05
	Independent	Kurt Hayes	1,125	1.06	+1.06
	Constitution	Kevin Thompson	494	0.47	0.47
Plurality			6,593	6%
Turnout
	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%

See also

• List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Giroux, Greg (2007-05-09). "Massachusetts Rep. Meehan Sets Date to Vacate Seat". CQPolitics.com. http://www.cqpolitics.com/2007/05/massachusetts_rep_meehan_sets.html. Retrieved 2007-05-09. 
2. ^ 5th District Elects Tsongas Associated Press
3. ^ Murphy, Matt (2007-06-02). "Lowell Mason joins rep. race". LowellSun.com. http://www.lowellsun.com/front/ci_6046351. Retrieved 2007-06-06. 
4. ^ lowellsun.com
5. ^ eagletribune.com
6. ^ "Ogonowski's House bid gets boost". The Boston Globe. 2007-04-27. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/04/27/ogonowskis_house_bid_gets_boost/. 
7. ^ bostonherald.com

External links

Candidate Web Sites

Democratic

• Eileen Donoghue for Congress web site
• Jamie Eldridge for Congress web site
• Barry Finegold for Congress web site
• Jim Miceli for Congress web site
• Niki Tsongas for Congress web site

Republican

• Jim Ogonowski for Congress web site
• Tom Tierney for Congress web site

Constitution

• Kevin Thompson for Congress web site

Independent

• Kurt Hayes for Congress web site
• Patrick Murphy for Congress web site