Massachusetts' 8th Congressional District
Massachusetts' 8th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives is represented by Stephen Lynch (D).
As of the 2020 Census, Massachusetts representatives represented an average of 781,497 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 728,849 residents.
Elections
See also: Massachusetts's 8th Congressional District election, 2030
There are no official candidates yet for this election.
See also: Massachusetts' 8th Congressional District election, 2028
There are no official candidates yet for this election.
See also: Massachusetts' 8th Congressional District election, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8
Incumbent Stephen Lynch (D), Patrick Roath (D), Andrew Zylberfink (D), and Walter Grochowski (R) are running in the general election for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Stephen Lynch (D) | |
| Patrick Roath (D) | ||
 | Andrew Zylberfink (D)  | |
| Walter Grochowski (R) | ||
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Kelechi Linardon (Unenrolled)
See also: Massachusetts' 8th Congressional District election, 2024
General election
General election for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8
Incumbent Stephen Lynch (D) defeated Robert Burke (R) in the general election for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Stephen Lynch (D) | 70.4 | 265,432 |
 | Robert Burke (R) | 29.4 | 110,638 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2% | 760 | ||
| Total votes: 376,830 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8
Incumbent Stephen Lynch (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8 on September 3, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Stephen Lynch | 98.7 | 64,761 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.3% | 861 | ||
| Total votes: 65,622 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary
Republican primary for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8
Robert Burke (R) defeated James Govatsos (R) and Daniel Kelly (R) in the Republican primary for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8 on September 3, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Robert Burke | 46.1 | 10,335 |
 | James Govatsos | 27.7 | 6,216 | |
| Daniel Kelly | 25.7 | 5,761 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.6% | 127 | ||
| Total votes: 22,439 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Matthew Lynch (R)
See also: Massachusetts' 8th Congressional District election, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8
Incumbent Stephen Lynch (D) defeated Robert Burke (R) in the general election for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Stephen Lynch (D) | 69.7 | 189,987 |
| | Robert Burke (R) | 30.1 | 82,126 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2% | 451 | ||
| Total votes: 272,564 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8
Incumbent Stephen Lynch (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8 on September 6, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Stephen Lynch | 99.0 | 73,191 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.0% | 715 | ||
| Total votes: 73,906 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Michael Ruiz (D)
Republican primary
Republican primary for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8
Robert Burke (R) defeated Hamilton Soares Rodrigues (R) in the Republican primary for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8 on September 6, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Robert Burke | 73.0 | 19,173 |
 | Hamilton Soares Rodrigues | 26.6 | 6,977 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.5% | 124 | ||
| Total votes: 26,274 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Ray Alongi (R)
See also: Massachusetts' 8th Congressional District election, 2020
General election
General election for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8
Incumbent Stephen Lynch (D) defeated Jonathan D. Lott (Healthcare Environment Stability) in the general election for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Stephen Lynch (D) | 80.7 | 310,940 |
 | Jonathan D. Lott (Healthcare Environment Stability) | 18.7 | 72,060 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.6% | 2,401 | ||
| Total votes: 385,401 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8
Incumbent Stephen Lynch (D) defeated Robbie Goldstein (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8 on September 1, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Stephen Lynch | 66.4 | 111,542 |
 | Robbie Goldstein | 33.5 | 56,219 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1% | 222 | ||
| Total votes: 167,983 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Mohammad Dar (D)
- Brianna Wu (D)
Republican primary
The Republican primary scheduled for September 1, 2020, was canceled.
See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Massachusetts, 2018
General election
General election for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8
Incumbent Stephen Lynch (D) won election in the general election for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Stephen Lynch (D) | 98.4 | 259,159 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.6% | 4,148 | ||
| Total votes: 263,307 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8
Incumbent Stephen Lynch (D) defeated Brianna Wu (D) and Christopher Voehl (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Massachusetts District 8 on September 4, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Stephen Lynch | 71.0 | 52,269 |
 | Brianna Wu | 22.9 | 16,878 | |
 | Christopher Voehl | 6.0 | 4,435 | |
| Total votes: 73,5820 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
District map
Redistricting
2020-2021
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) signed the state’s new congressional maps into law on November 22, 2021. Both chambers of the legislature approved the new maps on November 17, 2021. The state House approved the plan by a vote of 151-8 with 127 Democrats, 23 Republicans, and one independent voting in favor and six Republicans and two Democrats voting against. The state Senate approved the new congressional maps 26-13, with 24 Democrats and two Republicans voting in favor and 12 Democrats and one Republican opposed. In the previous redistricting cycle, Massachusetts adopted its congressional map almost ten years ago to the day—on Nov. 21, 2011. This map took effect for Massachusetts’ 2022 congressional elections.
As Nik DeCosta-Klipa wrote at Boston.com after the legislature approved the maps, "unlike the partisan redistricting fights happening across much of the country, the map has been an argument among Democrats in reliably-blue Massachusetts. While the proposal does not dramatically alter the general contours of the state’s nine Democrat-held House districts...some of the tweaks around the edges have elicited vocal — to some, surprising — outcry."[10] State Sen. Will Brownsberger (D), chair of the Special Joint Committee on Redistricting, said that he was unhappy that some members objected to the new maps. He said, "It’s always my goal to assure that every single senator is satisfied with the results of the redistricting process."[10]
How does redistricting in Massachusetts work? In Massachusetts, congressional and state legislative district lines are drawn by the state legislature. The lines drawn by the state legislature are subject to veto by the governor.[11]
State statutes require that state legislative district boundaries be contiguous and "reasonably preserve counties, towns, and cities intact, where otherwise possible." There are no such requirements in place for congressional districts.[11]
2020
2024
2010-2011
In 2011, the Massachusetts State Legislature re-drew the congressional districts based on updated population information from the 2010 census.
District analysis
- See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index
- See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores
2026
Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is D+15. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 15 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Massachusetts' 8th the 93rd most Democratic district nationally.[12]
2024
Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+15. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 15 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Massachusetts' 8th the 91st most Democratic district nationally.[13]
Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have defeated Donald Trump (R) 66.9%-31.4%.[14]
2022
Heading into the 2022 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+15. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 15 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Massachusetts' 8th the 89th most Democratic district nationally.[15]
Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have received 66.9% of the vote in this district and Donald Trump (R) would have received 31.4%.[16]
2018
Heading into the 2018 elections, based on results from the 2016 and 2012 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+10. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 10 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Massachusetts' 8th Congressional District the 120th most Democratic nationally.[17]
FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 1.13. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 1.13 points toward that party.[18]
See also
- Redistricting in Massachusetts
- Massachusetts' 8th Congressional District election, 2024
- Massachusetts' 8th Congressional District election, 2022
- Massachusetts' 8th Congressional District election, 2020
- Massachusetts' 8th Congressional District election, 2018
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of State, "DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES FOR NOMINATION," accessed June 15, 2016
- ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of State, "REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES FOR NOMINATION," accessed June 15, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "2012 Election Map, Massachusetts"
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 2008," accessed March 28, 2013
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 2006," accessed March 28, 2013
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2004," accessed March 28, 2013
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 5, 2002," accessed March 28, 2013
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 2000," accessed March 28, 2013
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Boston.com, "Following contentious debate, the new Massachusetts congressional map is in Charlie Baker’s hands," November 18, 2021
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 All About Redistricting, "Massachusetts," accessed May 4, 2015
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2025 Cook PVI℠: District Map and List (119th Congress)," accessed July 1, 2025
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "The 2022 Cook Partisan Voting Index (Cook PVI℠)," accessed January 10, 2024
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2020 presidential results by congressional district, for new and old districts," accessed September 15, 2022
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "The 2022 Cook Partisan Voting Index (Cook PVI℠)," accessed February 6, 2023
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2020 presidential results by congressional district, for new and old districts," accessed September 15, 2022
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index," April 7, 2017
- ↑ FiveThirtyEight, "Election Update: The Most (And Least) Elastic States And Districts," September 6, 2018
