The midterms are just 13 weeks away, and there is still no obvious answer to the question: what do Massachusetts voters want?
OK, not Republicans. But beyond that, it’s not clear what we’re shopping for. Old hands or young blood? Insiders or outsiders? Socialists, capitalists, lovers, muggers, thieves? We love that (allegedly no longer) dirty water, but what else?
Maybe there’s a clue in that most rare phenomenon, a member of Congress facing absolutely no competition for reelection. No Democratic primary challengers. No Republican general election foe. Not even a stray independent or third-party wingnut who flits onto the ballot like a fly seeking purchase on a dog’s leavings, pending certain disposal by the voters.
Among the nine members of the Massachusetts delegation up for renewal, Second District Congressman Jim McGovern is unique. But why?
“I have no idea,” he says. “I would like to think it’s because I’m doing a good job and I have Democrats, Independents, and Republicans who appreciate that and believe I deserve another term.”
This is the eighth time since taking office in 1997 that McGovern has had a free ride, an eyebrow-raising feat considering the seat in 1996 — then known as the Third CD and destined for two rounds of redistricting since — was one of two held by a Republican (Peter Blute). According to some of the right-wing trolls on one Worcester-area Facebook page (“the state is a communist state”), the explanation is the Second CD was redistricted out of reach of the GOP.
But like most everything else you read on Facebook, that’s false. McGovern’s narrow 1996 margin of victory came from Worcester and Fall River; he lost the Spindle City (which voted Republican for president in 2024 for the first time in a century) in the 2010 redistricting but picked up Leominster, no left-wing haven. As recently as 2018, the Second CD went for Republican Charlie Baker for governor by a healthy 68-32% spread, Baker’s second straight win there. They liked Scott Brown over Martha Coakley in the 2010 Senate special too.
So why does this relatively moderate district rally so persistently and conclusively behind a perennial top-ten finisher in the National Journal’s ranking of most-liberal House members?
For starters, he shows up in the district and brings home the federal bacon, more than $100 million in FY2025 in direct grants to Worcester and its schools. His longtime status as a critic of U.S. foreign policy towards Cuba, El Salvador and the Middle East rubs some the wrong way, but his focus on human rights distinguishes him from leftist Hamas apologists. His trademark issue — the never-ending war on hunger — seems to have much more political appeal than the DOGE crowd’s rhetoric demonizing the poor.
And if the Democratic Socialists eager to displace more-centrist Democrats think they have an automatic ally in McGovern, they’re mistaken. “I'm not convinced that it's particularly helpful for Democrats to be having these kind of internal conversations or debates,” he says. “I actually trust the voters, and if voters want somebody more to the left, they'll vote for somebody to the left, or if they want somebody more moderate they'll vote that way. I don't think political elites or talking heads should be telling voters how they [should] vote.”
McGovern did endorse Ed Markey for reelection well before Seth Moulton launched his generational challenge, and he’s still with him. “Ed’s a fighter,” he says. “There are some people, quite frankly, their age is a detriment. But I serve with people who are in their 30s who are lazy, and they should go too. Voters want bold change. They don't want us just tinkering around the edges. They want us to solve problems, not just manage them. They want major changes in healthcare. They want to make sure that their groceries are more affordable and they can afford gas. They want these wars to come to an end. And if it doesn't matter your age, it doesn't matter how long you've been there. If voters are convinced that you're on their side and they're going to fight for them, then they'll be with you.”
The Second District’s verdict on McGovern seems written in stone. His blunt denunciations of GOP perfidy play well in the bluest state; his lunch-pail aesthetic complements both his anti-hunger agenda and the way most voters in Worcester and Leominster view themselves.
It’s been a formula for unparalleled success within the delegation. And if his apparently hapless enemies don’t like it, too bad.
You can’t beat somebody with nobody.
