Massachusetts's 1st congressional district

Massachusetts's 1st congressional district
Current Representative		John Olver (D–Amherst)
Area	3,101.14 mi²
Distribution	69.21% urban, 30.79% rural
Population (2000)	634,479
Median income	$52,561
Ethnicity	88.8% White, 1.9% Black, 1.7% Asian, 6.3% Hispanic, 0.2% Native American, 1.1% other
Occupation	23.8% blue collar, 59.7% white collar, 16.4% gray collar
Cook PVI	D+14

Massachusetts's 1st congressional district is in western and central Massachusetts. The largest Massachusetts district in area, it covers about one-third of the state and is more rural than the rest. It has the state's highest point, Mount Greylock. This District also includes the notable cities of West Springfield, Pittsfield, Holyoke, Westfield, Fitchburg ,and Leominster.

John Olver, a Democrat from Amherst, has represented the district since June 1991.

Cities and towns currently in the district

The district contains all of Berkshire County and Franklin County as well the following towns and cities:

In Hampden County:

Blandford, Chester, Granville, Holyoke, Montgomery, Russell, Southwick, Tolland, Westfield, West Springfield.

In Hampshire County:

Amherst, Belchertown, Chesterfield, Cummington, Easthampton, Goshen, Granby, Hatfield, Huntington, Middlefield, Pelham, Plainfield, Southampton, Ware, Westhampton, Williamsburg, Worthington.

In Middlesex County:

Ashby, Pepperell, Townsend.

In Worcester County:

Ashburnham, Athol, Barre, Fitchburg, Gardner, Hardwick, Hubbardston, Leominster, Lunenburg, New Braintree, Oakham, Petersham, Phillipston, Royalston, Sterling, Templeton, West Brookfield, Westminster, Winchendon.

History

When the First District was originally created it covered part of eastern Massachusetts, generally south of Boston.

List of representatives

Representative	Party	Years ↑	Cong.	District Residence	Electoral history
Fisher Ames	Pro- Administration	March 4, 1789 – March 4, 1793	1 2		First elected as the single Representative for the seat
		General ticket, March 4, 1793 – March 4, 1795	3		Re-elected with three others on a general ticket Redistrcted to the 8th district
Samuel Dexter	Pro- Administration				[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Benjamin Goodhue	Pro- Administration				Redistricted to 10th district
Samuel Holten	Anti- Administration				[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Theodore Sedgwick	Federalist	March 4, 1795 – June, 1796	4		Redistricted from 2nd district Resigned
Vacant		June 1796 – January 27, 1797
Thomson J. Skinner	Democratic- Republican	January 27, 1797 – March 4, 1799	4 (Continued)		[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
			5
Theodore Sedgwick	Federalist	March 4, 1799 – March 4, 1801	6		[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
John Bacon	Democratic- Republican	March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1803	7		[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
William Eustis	Democratic- Republican	March 4, 1803 – March 4, 1805	8		Redistricted from 8th district, Lost re-election
Josiah Quincy III	Federalist	March 4, 1805 – March 4, 1813	9		[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
			10
			11
			12
Artemas Ward, Jr.	Federalist	March 4, 1813 – March 4, 1817	13		[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
			14
Jonathan Mason	Federalist	March 4, 1817 – May 15, 1820	15		Resigned to pursue law practice
			16
Vacant		May 15, 1820 – November 6, 1820
Benjamin Gorham	Democratic- Republican	November 6, 1820 – March 4, 1823	16 (Continued)		[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
			17
Daniel Webster	Adams-Clay Federalist	March 4, 1823 – March 4, 1825	18		Resigned to become U.S. Senator
	Adams	March 4, 1825 – May 30, 1827	19
			20
Vacant		May 30, 1827 – July 23, 1827
Benjamin Gorham	Adams	July 23, 1827 – March 4, 1829	20		[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
	Anti -Jacksonian	March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1831	21
Nathan Appleton	Anti -Jacksonian	March 4, 1831 – March 4, 1833	22		Retired
Benjamin Gorham	Anti -Jacksonian	March 4, 1833 – March 4, 1835	23		[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Abbott Lawrence	Anti -Jacksonian	March 4, 1835 – March 4, 1837	24
Richard Fletcher	Whig	March 4, 1837 – March 4, 1839	25		Retired
Abbott Lawrence	Whig	March 4, 1839 – September 18, 1840	26		Resigned
Vacant		September 18, 1840 – November 9, 1840
Robert C. Winthrop	Whig	November 9, 1840 – May 25, 1842	26 (Continued)		Resigned
			27
Vacant		May 25, 1842 – June 9, 1842
Nathan Appleton	Whig	June 9, 1842 – September 28, 1842			Resigned
Vacant		September 28, 1842 – November 29, 1842
Robert C. Winthrop	Whig	November 29, 1842 – July 30, 1850	27 (Continued)		Resigned to become U.S. Senator
			28
			29
			30
			31
Vacant		July 30, 1850 – August 22, 1850	31 (Continued)
Samuel A. Eliot	Whig	August 22, 1850 – March 4, 1851	31 (Continued)		Retired
William Appleton	Whig	March 4, 1851 – March 4, 1853	32		Redistricted to the 5th district
Zeno Scudder	Whig	March 4, 1853 – March 4, 1854	33		Redistricted from the 10th district Retired because of injury
Vacant		March 4, 1854 – April 17, 1854
Thomas D. Eliot	Whig	April 17, 1854 – March 4, 1855			Retired
Robert B. Hall	American (Know Nothing)	March 4, 1855 – March 4, 1857	34		[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
	Republican	March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1859	35
Thomas D. Eliot	Republican	March 4, 1859 – March 4, 1869	36		Retired
			37
			38
			39
			40
James Buffinton	Republican	March 4, 1869 – March 7, 1875	41		Died
			42
			43
			44
Vacant		March 7, 1875 – November 2, 1875
William W. Crapo	Republican	November 2, 1875 – March 4, 1883	44 (Continued)		Retired
			45
			46
			47
Robert T. Davis	Republican	March 4, 1883 – March 4, 1889	48		Retired
			49
			50
Charles S. Randall	Republican	March 4, 1889 – March 4, 1893	51		Redistricted to the 13th district
			52
Ashley B. Wright	Republican	March 4, 1893 – August 14, 1897	53		Died
			54
			55
Vacant		August 14, 1897 – November 2, 1897
George P. Lawrence	Republican	November 2, 1897 – March 4, 1913	55 (Continued)	North Adams	Retired
			56
			57
			58
			59
			60
			61
			62
Allen T. Treadway	Republican	March 4, 1913 – January 3, 1945	63	Stockbridge	Retired
			64
			65
			66
			67
			68
			69
			70
			71
			72
			73
			74
			75
			76
			77
			78
John W. Heselton	Republican	January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1959	79	Deerfield	Retired
			80
			81
			82
			83
			84
			85
Silvio O. Conte	Republican	January 3, 1959 – February 8, 1991	86	Pittsfield	Died
			87
			88
			89
			90
			91
			87
			93
			94
			95
			96
			97
			98
			99
			100
			101
			102
Vacant		February 8, 1991 – June 4, 1991
John Olver	Democratic	June 4, 1991 – Present	102 (Continued)	Amherst	Retiring
			103
			104
			105
			106
			107
			108
			109
			110
			111
			112

Recent election results

2002 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Olver	137,841	67.56
	Republican	Matthew Kinnaman	66,061	32.40
	Write-in		117	0.06
Majority			71,780	35.18
Turnout			204,019
	Democratic hold		Swing

2004 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Olver	229,465	99.02	+ 31.46
	Write-in		2,282	0.98	+ 0.92
Majority			227,183	98.04	+ 62.86
Turnout			231,747
	Democratic hold		Swing

2006 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Olver	158,035	76%	{{{change}}}
	Unenrolled challenger	William H. Szych	49,123	24%	{{{change}}}
	Socialist	Eric Chester	<253	<1%
	Democratic hold		Swing

2008 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John Olver			{{{change}}}
	Democratic	Robert Feuer			{{{change}}}
	Republican	Nathan Bech			{{{change}}}

References

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
• Massachusetts Congressional Districts

External links

• CNN.com 2004 election results
• CNN.com 2006 election results
• Map of Massachusetts's 1st Congressional District, via Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth