MA-05: Meehan Leaves Congress

Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Massachusetts) will be resigning from Congress effective July 1st to take a job as Chancellor of UMass Lowell. His resignation had already been all but confirmed up until today.

Governor Deval Patrick (D-Massachusetts) has called a special election primary in September and general in October to fill the seat for the remainder of the term.

Democrats running for the seat include Niki Tsongas, wife of former Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas, Lowell City Councilor Eileen M. Donoghue; state Reps. Barry Finegold of Andover, James Eldridge of Acton, and James Miceli of Wilmington.

One Republican has announced for the seat, Air Force Lt Col. James Ogonowski, whose brother was the pilot of American Airlines Flight 11 on 9/11.

Meehan's seat, which includes Lowell, Lawrence and a huge chunk of Middlesex County along the New Hampshire border is widely seen as the least Democratic of Massachusetts' ten seats. Although Kerry carried the district by a substantial margin, it was his weakest in his home state, but Republicans would still have an uphill battle for the seat. Democrats have held it since 1975. The closest the Republicans have come to taking the seat since was in 1990 when John MacGovern came within 4% of ousting Democratic incumbent Chester Atkins.