Republicans Vie For Spot in Fifth Congressional District

Three Republican candidates will go head to head Thursday, Sept. 6 for a chance to take on 36-year incumbent Democratic Congressman Edward J. Markey, in the newly-reconfigured Fifth Congressional District this November.

Lawyer Frank J. Addivinola, Jr., financial consultant Jeffrey M. Semon, 
and consulting actuary Tom Tierney are all vying for a spot on the general election ballot. The longest serving member of the Massachusetts Congressional delegations, Markey previously represented what was the Seventh District.

Massachusetts lost a seat in Congress in the wake of the 2010 Census, triggering statewide redistricting. Amidst that redistricting, Cambridge was split into two districts, now called the fifth and seventh. The area of central Cambridge that includes Harvard as a result switched from the Eighth to the Fifth District. Congressman Michael E. Capuano, who previously represented Harvard, will now run in the Seventh District.

Boston political veteran Lawrence S. DiCara ‘71 said both new districts should be safe Democratic strongholds. If anything, he said, the new Fifth should lean farther to the left, making Markey, who has won 18 consecutive elections with 60 percent or more, very hard to beat.

“I don’t think any of those people are going to give Markey a run for his money,” DiCara said. “This is not one where any one of them are going to come close. It is a heavily Democratic district. It is probably more Democratic that it was before.”

Both Tierney and Addivinola have run for elective office before. Tierney has been a perennial candidate, while Addivinola lost a bid for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 2010. Semon, whom the Boston Globe endorsed earlier this week, has never before sought public office.

Running as a staunch fiscal conservative, Semon has proposed repealing the Affordable Care Act and building a stronger border to slow illegal immigration. Addivinola and Tierney have largely propelled their own campaigns, gathering signatures and trying to drum up debate.

None of the Republican candidates have raised more than $25,000. Markey, by contrast, has brought in nearly $1 million in contributions.

Because of the scant number of registered Republicans in Cambridge, Thursday’s primary is expected to be a low tallying affair. DiCara said 1500 to 2000 votes will likely be enough to push a Republican over the top.

Also on their respective party ballots on Thursday: Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Senator Scott Brown, who are both running unopposed ahead of their face-off in November’s general election for U.S. Senate.

—Staff writer Nicholas P. Fandos can be reached at nicholasfandos@college.harvard.edu.