Rep. John Tierney is the only potentially vulnerable Massachusetts Democrat in this election cycle because of the more conservative bent of voters in his district, legal troubles in his family and a very credible GOP challenger.
2nd District Incumbent: Jim McGovern (D) 8th term (57 percent) Rating: Safe Democratic
The majority of this district is new to McGovern, but it still will be an easy re-election bid for him this cycle. The 2nd not only includes his political base of Worcester, the commonwealth’s second-largest city, but also the deeply liberal college towns of Amherst and Northampton in the Pioneer Valley. McGovern, who has frequently earned a 100 percent rating from Americans for Democratic Action, is a true liberal who should see eye to eye with his new constituents.
3rd District Incumbent: Niki Tsongas (D) 2nd full term (55 percent) Rating: Safe Democratic
The redistricting process was good to Tsongas, who got her wish to keep most of the Merrimack Valley region — including her home base of Lowell — intact in the district. In a year with Obama on the ballot and increased turnout among the Democratic base, she should cruise to re-election with an even stronger percentage of the vote than she received last fall.
4th District Open seat: Barney Frank (D) is retiring Rating: Safe Democratic
Frank announced his retirement Monday, paving the way for a wild Democratic primary. The 16-term Congressman would have had to introduce himself to a lot of new voters in the newly drawn 4th, which meanders from his longtime base of support in liberal Newton and Brookline down to a portion of Fall River.
Potential contenders for the Democratic nomination include City Year co-founder Alan Khazei, who recently dropped his Senate primary bid but had $751,000 in his federal account at the end of September, former Brookline Board of Selectmen Chairwoman Deborah Goldberg, Brookline Selectwoman Jesse Mermell, state Sen. Cynthia Creem, state Sen. Marc Pacheco and Bristol County District Attorney Samuel Sutter. Sources close to Sutter say he will make an official announcement next week.
One Republican candidate in the race is psychiatrist Elizabeth Childs. She had only $11,000 in cash on hand at the end of the third quarter. It’s unclear whether Sean Bielat, the GOP nominee in 2010, will run again.
5th District Incumbent: Ed Markey (D) 18th full term (66 percent) Rating: Safe Democratic
It’s no surprise that Markey, the dean of the delegation, ended up with an exceedingly safe district not dissimilar to the one he currently represents. The liberal suburbs of Boston should safely re-elect Markey to his 19th term.
6th District Incumbent: John Tierney (D) 8th term (57 percent) Rating: Leans Democratic
This is the lone Massachusetts seat that’s likely to be truly in play. The district, in the northeastern part of the commonwealth, will be competitive thanks to the more conservative bent of voters, the incumbent’s family’s legal troubles and a very credible GOP challenger.
Tierney’s wife, Patrice, last year pleaded guilty to federal tax charges after helping her brother’s illegal gambling ring. But the problems aren’t going away. She recently testified at the trial for another of her brothers. Spousal privilege was invoked, and she was able to avoid discussing whether she asked the Congressman, a lawyer, if what she was doing was legal, according to local news reports. Patrice Tierney admitted that she and her husband twice visited her brother’s headquarters on Antigua, most recently in 2009, but said she didn’t know it was the heart of an illegal gambling operation, according to the local reports.
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