Support Swampscott: Preserve the Sixth District

Hundreds recently flocked to Lynn’s City Hall to attend a hearing on how Massachusetts will divide its current ten Congressional Districts into nine. All of the current Congressmen are Democrats and no one has offered to drop out. A bi-partisan panel of state legislators has been assembled to choose the sacrificial lamb. The logical choice would be to acknowledge recent population shifts and create one western Massachusetts district, one central Massachusetts district, and divide the remaining seven among those eastern Massachusetts communities where the bulk of the state's voters reside. But the political reality is that the Committee is co- chaired by State Senator Stanley Rosenberg of Amherst, who has long eyed the seat currently occupied by the 74-year-old John Olver. His path would be made much more difficult if the two Western Mass districts were combined into one.

 Of the ten current Congressmen, John Tierney of Salem is considered to be one of the most vulnerable, partly because of the scandal surrounding his wife. He has already been targeted by a group of GOP bankrollers. One possible scenario would have Tierney matched up against Cong. Niki Tsongas of Lowell (wife of the former Senator) who is also considered vulnerable. http://www.rollcall.com/issues/56_113/Massachusetts-Redistricting--205111-1.html 

 I previously reported on another map in which Swampscott is moved into Mike Capuano’s (D-Somerville) district while Salem is moved into a district currently represented by Ed Markey of Medford, thus pitting Tierney against the unbeatable Markey.

But such gerrymandering would not be good for Swampscott or for the citizens of the current Sixth District.

 The 6th District has been a compact, contiguous district for 170 years and could easily be maintained as such. (To picture it, just think of Essex County and move the borders west a bit.) Simply adding the city of Haverhill which was part of the 6th District from 1873 until 2000, would add 61,275, very close to the 77,000 people by which each district must grow.

 Swampscott has more in common with its fellow North Shore communities than it does with areas like Somerville, Allston or Lowell. We have been working together in Congress with our North Shore neighbors for nearly two centuries. We should not end this relationship with massive gerrymandering. The long term needs of the area should outweigh selfish temporary political goals. The time to speak out is now. Rosenberg has said a final congressional map may be ready by Thanksgiving, or possibly earlier. To tell the committee how you think: http://www.malegislature.gov/District/Contact