In the Merrimack Valley: Red-Mass Group Redistricting Suggestions

May 1, 2011 by Marie Posted in History, Lowell, Politics, Current Events, Greater Lowell 3 Comments

Last week the folks at the Red-Mass Group blog offered some suggestions on how to redistrict three Merrimack Valley/Northern Middlesex State Senate districts. Two of the districts – First Middlesex and Second Essex Middlesex rate a high “leaning Republican” rating from them based on the Brown Coakley race results while the third – the Third Middlesex “leans Democrat” but as configured would pit incumbent Dem Senators Fargo and Eldridge against each other. These senarios are but the tip of the iceberg as the must-do redistricting of the Commonwealth takes shape. What do you think?

Second Essex Middlesex – Senator Finegold (D-Andover) remains the same – Andover, Dracut, Lawrence and Tewksbury.

First Middlesex – Senator Eileen Donoghue (D-Lowell) – Removes Pepperell, Groton and most precincts in the town of Westford while adding the entire town of Chelmsford.

Third Middlesex – Senator Susan Fargo (D-Lincoln) – Loses  Chelmsford, her Lexington precincts, Bedford and adds Maynard, Acton, Sudbury. The town of Acton is the home of  Senator Jamie Eldridge and currently in his Middlesex and Worcester district. A Dem versus Dem face-off would delight the Mass-GOP.

3 Responses to In the Merrimack Valley: Red-Mass Group Redistricting Suggestions

  1. Dean says:

    I hope we see more of Eileen in Chelmsford in the next few months. See you the Fourth of July.

  2. C R Krieger says:

    I like the idea of Chelmsford and Lowell in the same (State) Senate district.

    Regards  —  Cliff

  3. Christopher says:

    I think the 1st Middlesex is an improvement, especially by keeping Chelmsford with the rest of Greater Lowell. Given the choice of Eldridge vs. Fargo, I’ll take Eldridge unless he wants to take time off to organize a statewide campaign for 2014. I’ve never particularly liked the current 2nd Essex and Middlesex. Nothing against our Andover Senators, O’Brien, Tucker, and Finegold, but Dracut and Tewksbury are Greater Lowell, not Greater Lawrence. Plus you cannot get between Dracut and any other community in the district without going outside of the district or swimming across the Merrimack! I ran the numbers at one point and found that Dracut, Lowell, and Tewksbury together are about the right size; then there can be a suburban Lowell district consisting of Wilmington, Billerica, Chelmsford, Westford, Littleton, Groton, Dunstable, and Tyngsborough (or something like that – I don’t remember exactly). A Greater Lawrence district would naturally be Lawrence, Methuen, and the Andovers, though I think I had to add Middleton to get the numbers to work. The rest of the Baddour district would be the remaining communities between the Ipswich River and the NH line, thus keeping the 1st Essex and Middlesex closer to Cape Ann and the North Shore instead of going horseshoe-shaped into the Merrimack Valley like it does now.