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

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. 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. 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

Republican Jim Ogonowski – Former Air Force Lt. Colonel from Dracut, and brother of John, the Captain of American Airlines Flight 11, which was hijacked by al-Qaeda terrorists and flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the September 11 attacks. He is believed to have been killed by the hijackers prior to the crash. Thomas Tierney – Self-Employed Independent Consulting Actuary from Framingham

Withdrawn or not running

Democratic James DiPaola – Middlesex County Sherifflowellsun.com David O'Brien – Democratic National Committee member from Concord

Republican Fred Smerlas – Former NFL defensive lineman Michael J. Sullivan – Mayor of Lawrencebostonherald.com

Polling Democratic primary Source Date Donoghue (D) Eldridge (D) Finegold (D) Miceli (D) Tsongas (D)Survey USASurvey USAAug 27–29, 2007 29% 15% 9% 3% 40%Survey USASurvey USAAug 11–13, 2007 16% 13% 14% 4% 38%Kiley & CompanyKiley & CompanyAug 8–9, 2007 18% 16% 13% 4% 34%JEF AssociatesJEF AssociatesAug 6–7, 2007 22% 7% 8% 4% 28%Kiley & CompanyJuly 15, 2007 13% 12% 10% 4% 36%JEF AssociatesJEF AssociatesJun 28–30, 2007 17% 10% 13% 4% 26%Kiley & CompanyMay 22, 2007 9% 10% 11% 3% 38%Garin-Hart-Yang ResearchGarin-Hart-Yang ResearchMay 3–4, 2007 13% 5% 10% 4% 36% DiPaola (D) O'Brien (D)Kiley & CompanyKiley & CompanyMar 23–24, 2007 9% 9% 8% 3% 35% 6% 3%

Republican primary Source Date Ogonowski (R) Tierney (R)Survey USAAug 27–29, 2007 72% 12%

General Election Source Date Ogonowski (R) Tsongas (D) Thompson (C) Hayes (I) Murphy (I)Survey USASurvey USAOct 8–10, 2007 42% 51% 0% 2% 4%RCCC PollRCCC PollOct 1–5, 2007 39% 44% N/A N/A N/ASurvey USASurvey USASep 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

Democratic primary CandidatesDemocratic Primary Election, Sep 4CandidatePartyVotesPercent 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 CandidatesRepublican Primary Election, Sep 4CandidatePartyVotesPercent 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

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

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