Rep. Martin Meehan (D) Elected 1992, 7th term
Born:	Dec. 30, 1956, Lowell
Home:	Lowell
Education:	U. of MA, B.S. 1978, Suffolk U., M.A. 1981, J.D. 1986
Religion:	Catholic
Marital Status:	married (Ellen Murphy)
Professional Career:	Staff Asst., U.S. Rep. James Shannon, 1979-81; Research analyst, MA Legislature's Joint Cmte. on Elections, 1982-84; MA Dpty. Secy. of State for Securities & Corps., 1985-90; Middlesex Cnty. 1st Asst. Dist. Atty., 1990-92.
DC Office	2229 RHOB20515, 202-225-3411; Fax: 202-226-0771; Web site: www.house.gov/meehan
State Offices	Haverhill, 978-521-1845; Lawrence, 978-681-6200; Lowell, 978-459-0101.
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The Merrimack River Valley at the northern edge of Massachusetts has had an erratic history: High-tech boom, bust, boom, bust, boom. When Massachusetts was a kind of maritime republic in the 19th century, with its farmers struggling to scratch out a living from the stony soil, a few clever Yankees used their profits from the sea trade to try to tame the rapidly flowing Merrimack and build cotton-spinning mills. Creating the cities of Lowell and Lawrence, they built model dormitories and recreation programs for their women workers. This was the center of America's textile industry for more than a century, long after the maritime industry faded. But in the 1920s, the price of labor rose and newly built mills in the Carolinas, much closer to the cotton supply, decimated the industry that Lawrence and Lowell built. Many residents--by then, rather elderly--waited forlornly for an upturn in the local economy.

It came eventually, largely due to an unexpected source. High-tech industry drove the growth, beginning in the 1960s around MIT, then moving out to the Route 128 ring road and then I-495, which passes through Lowell and Lawrence. Wang, headquartered in Lowell, grew spectacularly, and Senator Paul Tsongas spearheaded a national historic restoration of the old mill area. This was the Massachusetts miracle of the 1980s. Then came the bust: Wang's word processors and minicomputers slumped as businesses purchased personal computers and hooked them together in networks. But Lowell revived again. Its new immigrants--mostly from Cambodia and Puerto Rico--provide vitality and entrepreneurial creativity; the old Wang buildings are filled with health care, banking, telecommunications and Internet companies.

The 5th Congressional District of Massachusetts includes Lawrence and Lowell, which along with next-door towns account for about two-thirds of the district's population. The remainder of the district is the high-tech corridor south on circumferential Interstate 495. The district also includes tony suburbs like Concord, the mountains along the New Hampshire state line and the small towns west of Lowell that once hosted Fort Devens, which closed in 1996, though part of the base today survives as a training site for New England Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers. Except for Lowell and Lawrence, it is ancestrally Yankee Republican. It is culturally liberal and trended toward the Democrats in the early 1970s. Back then, the 5th produced two Democratic candidates who would later run for president: John Kerry, who lost the general election in 1972, and Paul Tsongas, who won the seat two years later. In the 1980s and 1990s, amid the high-tech boom, it went Republican in national and even statewide elections: A kind of Baja New Hampshire. In 1992, it gave Bill Clinton his lowest percentage in the state, while a big vote went to high-tech pioneer Ross Perot. But in the 1990s, its cultural liberalism moved it toward Democrats. Not as far as some Massachusetts districts: Al Gore carried the 5th District by 57%-36%, John Kerry by 57%-41%.

The congressman from the 5th District is Martin Meehan, a Democrat first elected in 1992. Meehan grew up in Lowell, one of seven children of a 43-year Lowell Sun typesetter. As a child, he memorized President Kennedy's speeches from long-playing records, kept a scrapbook on Robert Kennedy, and idolized Senator Edward Kennedy. He is a lifelong politico: He was an aide to Congressman James Shannon while working on his masters degree, worked in the Massachusetts secretary of state's office after law school, and was first assistant district attorney in Middlesex County from 1990 until he ran for Congress in 1992. He took on eight-year incumbent Democrat Chester Atkins, who had grown highly unpopular in the district, and beat him by the astonishing margin of 65%-35%. In the general, Meehan faced former Republican Congressman Paul Cronin, who beat Kerry in 1972 (the only open seat carried by George McGovern to also elect a Republican to the House), but lost to Tsongas in 1974. Meehan won 52%-38%.

Meehan combines a mostly liberal voting record with distinctive stands on issues. One of his crusades is against tobacco; his father, a smoker, had heart surgery when Marty was 11. He sponsored a bipartisan bill with a $1.50 a pack tax and a target of cutting youth smoking by 80%, and later proposed a ban on Internet sale of cigarettes to kids. His other great cause has been campaign finance reform. Starting in 1997, with Connecticut Rep. Christopher Shays and Senators Russ Feingold and John McCain, Meehan co-sponsored a series of campaign finance bills, and their proposal was finally enacted in 2002. It outlawed soft money, subjected non-candidate ads to disclosure and contribution limit requirements, strengthened FEC enforcement powers, required posting of forms on the Internet and created a commission to recommend more reforms. Despite the apprehensions of Democratic fundraisers, who were more dependent on soft money than Republicans, Meehan kept most Democrats and many Republicans aboard. With that success on the books, he moved to overhaul the Federal Election Commission.

Meehan serves on the Armed Services Committee and has generally moved to cut defense spending, but he boosts local Raytheon operations and its upgrades of the Patriot missile. Over the years, his voting record has drifted left: He voted for NAFTA in 1993 but against trade promotion authority in 1997 and 2001. He was one of three House Democrats from Massachusetts to vote to authorize George W. Bush to use force against Iraq.

When Meehan first ran for the House in 1992, he pledged to serve no more than four terms. In 1999, he said he would break his pledge. He roiled some Democrats when he voiced interest in the 2002 race for governor, but then changed his mind when threatened with the loss of his district through redistricting. Against nominal opposition in 2002, he was reelected to his House seat with only 60% of the vote. In 2004 he raised his vote share to 67%. In the run up to the 2004 election, Meehan led the unofficial race to raise funds with $4.5 million to run for the Senate should Kerry be elected president and his seat come open. But that became moot as the returns came in on November 2.

Committees

• Armed Services (7th of 28 D): Military Personnel; Terrorism, Unconventional Threats & Capabilities (RMM).
• Judiciary (10th of 17 D): Courts, the Internet & Intellectual Property; Crime, Terrorism & Homeland Security; Immigration, Border Security & Claims.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	100	85	100	100	56	11	22	4	0	7	--
2003	100	--	100	95	--	22	31	16	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	92%	--	0%		96%	--	3%
Social	84%	--	13%		86%	--	12%
Foreign	81%	--	17%		91%	--	9%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR N 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts N 3. Medicare/Rx Bill N 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. Y 5. DC School Vouchers N 6. Ban Human Cloning N		7. Restrict Gun Liability N  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion N  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage N 10. Fund Iraq War N 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds Y 12. Intelligence Reorg. N

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Martin Meehan (D)	179,652	67%	$459,977
	Thomas Tierney (R)	88,232	33%	$30,406
2004 primary	Martin Meehan (D)	unopposed
2002 general	Martin Meehan (D)	122,562	60%	$897,286
	Charles McCarthy (R)	69,337	34%	$256,212
	Ilana Freedman (Lib)	11,729	6%	$160,640
Prior winning percentages: 2000 (100%); 1998 (71%); 1996 (100%); 1994 (70%); 1992 (52%)

2004 Presidential Vote Kerry (D) 158,455 (57%) Bush (R) 114,874 (41%)

2000 Presidential Vote Gore (D) 145,277 (57%) Bush (R) 93,406 (36%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Fifth District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: D +11
• District Size: 582 square miles
• Population in 2000: 635,326; 93.5% urban; 6.5% rural
• Median Household Income: $56,217; 8.9% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 20.9% blue collar; 66.9% white collar; 12.1% gray collar; 10.9% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 79.7% White, 1.7% Black, 5.2% Asian, 0.1% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 1.4% Two+ races, 0.2% Other, 11.6% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 16.6% Irish, 9.8% Italian, 8.9% English
• Click here for statewide demographic data.