This past Tuesday Niki Tsongas won reelection, defeating Republican challenger Jon Golnik, 54% to 42%. Tsongas won 22 of the 29 towns in the Fifth Congressional District and the seven won by Golnik were by relatively small margins (Bolton by 4, Chelmsford by 237, Dracut by 334, Dunstable by 137, Lancaster by 70, Shirley by 1 and Tyngsborough by 429). Tsongas won her home town of Lowell, 13,694 to 7397 (63% to 34%), while Golnik lost his home town of Carlisle, 1472 to 1178 (55% to 44%).

Percentage-wise, the three best communities for Tsongas were Lawrence (9570 votes to 2670 – 76% to 21%), Concord (5747 votes to 2767 – 67% to 32%) and Acton (5902 to 3052 – 65% to 33%). The three best communities for Golnik were Dunstable (757 to 620 – 54% to 44%), Tyngsborough (2426 to 1997 – 53% to 44%), and Dracut (5441 to 5107 – 50% to 47%). The community with the percentage split that came closest to the final result was Acton, where Tsongas received 54% to Golnik’s 43%.

Tsongas was unopposed in the 2008 election, but in the 2007 special election in which she won the seat, she faced Republican Jim Ogonowski of Dracut. In 2007, Tsongas received 52% of the vote to Ogonowski’s 45%, a seven point margin of victory that was considerably smaller than the twelve point advantage Tsongas won in this election. The strongest communities for Tsongas in 2007 were Lawrence (69% to 27%), Concord (68% to 30%) and Wayland (66% to 33%). The strongest communities for Ogonowski were Dracut (65% to 32%), Tyngsborough (55% to 41%), and a Methuen (53% to 44%) Billerica (53% to 43%) tie. Tsongas won her home town of Lowell, 53% to 40% while Ogonowski won his home town of Dracut, 65% to 32%.

The total vote in 2010 (209,647) was nearly double that in 2007 (106,063) so one must be cautious in drawing conclusions based on these two elections, still comparing the numbers does help illustrate the strength of the Tsongas victory in this year’s election.