Rep. Michael Capuano (D) Elected 1998, 4th term
Born:	Jan. 9, 1952, Somerville
Home:	Somerville
Education:	Dartmouth Col., B.A. 1973, Boston Col., J.D. 1977
Religion:	Catholic
Marital Status:	married (Barbara)
Elected  Office:	Somerville Alderman Ward 5, 1977-79; Somerville Alderman-At-Large, 1985-89; Somerville Mayor, 1989-98.
Professional Career:	Chief Legal Cnsl., MA Legislature Taxation Cmte., 1978-84; Practicing atty., 1984-90.
DC Office	1530 LHOB20515, 202-225-5111; Fax: 202-225-9322; Web site: www.house.gov/capuano
State Offices	Cambridge, 617-621-8628.
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The ''Hub of the Solar System" is what the elder Oliver Wendell Holmes called the Massachusetts State House in the 19th century, though over time, his statement has come to be remembered as referring to Boston as the "Hub of the Universe." Either way, this most political of cities often has been the focal point of essential moments in American history. These streets, originally laid out as 17th century cowpaths, are where Samuel Adams and Paul Revere plotted revolution, where the abolitionist movement helped ignite the Civil War and are the sites of rallies and headquarters of the various Kennedy campaigns. Today's Boston is a different city from the Boston of John Kennedy's time. Boston then was a gray city with no new buildings and dust on every windowsill; the sky was dark with pollution and the air was thick with ancient Yankee and Irish animosity. The old office buildings were full of Yankees seeking safe investments for their antique family fortunes; the State House and City Hall were full of Irishmen, scampering after good patronage jobs and regaling each other with political battle stories. Today that Boston is mostly gone. The new skyscrapers are full of well-educated venture capitalists, lawyers and management consultants, many working for high-tech companies radiating from Cambridge out into the countryside. Most of Boston's neighborhoods have changed. Minorities and young singles increasingly populate the central city. The city's population is down from 801,000 in 1950 to 589,000 in 2000; more than 80% of people in the metropolitan area live in the suburbs.

A long generation ago, students from suburbs across the country who were exploring Boston from their dormitories and campuses felt they were pawing through the living remnants of 1920s America, a quaint place where people called traffic circles ''rotaries'' and milk shakes ''frappes.'' Massachusetts has since changed, and nowhere more than in Cambridge. As universities and high tech have become driving forces of economic growth, Cambridge has gone glitzy, with trendy restaurants and high-priced hotels, boutiques and upscale condominiums. Greater Boston may well have the heaviest concentration of graduate students and post-graduate hangers-on of any major city, and this graduate student proletariat's world is centered on Cambridge, with outposts in lower-income Somerville, Boston's Back Bay, and Allston and Brighton near the Harvard Business School. Although most unrelated activities seemed to shut down for the week, this new-fashioned city proudly paraded its wares during the 2004 Democratic National Convention, which nominated Beacon Hill's favorite son John Kerry.

These communities are part of Massachusetts's 8th Congressional District, a district with great historic sites, from the Paul Revere house in the North End to the frigate U.S.S. Constitution in the Charlestown docks. The district, with MIT and the software concentration in Cambridge's once downscale Lechmere Square, is one of the high-tech capitals of America. The 8th includes all of Cambridge, Somerville and Chelsea and many Boston neighborhoods--East Boston around Logan Airport, Brighton and the Back Bay, Fenway, Mattapan, Mission Hill, the South End. It shares Hyde Park, Roxbury, Dorchester and Jamaica Plain with the neighboring 9th District. For the first time in its history, whites are a minority of Boston's population. As they replace the Irish and Italians, Hispanics have caused a population boom in low-income Chelsea and in Dorchester, which annually celebrates one of the nation's largest Caribbean festivals. This is by far the most Democratic district in Massachusetts.

The congressman from the 8th District is Michael Capuano, the winner of a 10-candidate primary in 1998. It could be said that over the last 60-odd years this district has been represented alternately by townies and Kennedys: James Michael Curley, the scampish five-term mayor of Boston and one-term governor; followed by John F. Kennedy in 1946, then from 1952, Tip O'Neill, the most successful House speaker of this half-century; succeeded on his retirement in 1986 by Joe Kennedy; and now Capuano. He was born and raised in Somerville; his paternal grandfather emigrated from Italy, and his father was the first Italian-American elected official in Somerville; his mother is the granddaughter of Irish immigrants. Capuano graduated from Dartmouth and Boston College Law School. He returned to Somerville to raise his family, practice law and get into politics. By day, he worked for the legislature's Joint Committee on Taxation and practiced law; in off-hours, he served as alderman in the 5th Ward, like his father before him. He was elected alderman-at-large from 1985-89, then won election five times as the city's mayor. For decades an Irish and Italian town, Somerville now attracts many grad students and yuppies. Capuano seems to have been the right politician for this mix, with deep Somerville roots and a penchant for innovation and reform. So he had a solid base to run for the 8th District seat in 1998 when Joe Kennedy announced that he wouldn't seek re-election. In a 10-candidate field, Capuano led with 23%, with former Boston Mayor (1983-93) Ray Flynn the runner-up at 17%.

In the House, Capuano is well to the left on the national political spectrum, though relatively centrist within the Massachusetts delegation: For same-sex marriage, against the partial-birth abortion ban and opposed to the flag-burning amendment. He sponsored a proposal to expand federal terrorism risk insurance coverage to include group life insurance; the Financial Services Committee, on which Capuano serves, approved a modified version. On the Transportation Committee, he worried that headlines about tunnel leaks and other construction defects in the Big Dig would jeopardize support for new local highway projects, especially with lingering resentment over the cost of Tip O'Neill's legacy. "The last thing that I need while the highway bill is pending is a headline-grabbing investigation," he said after colleague Marty Meehan went public with criticism and backed a federal probe.

Capuano has not been shy about moving beyond local politics. When Catholic bishops across the nation said that they would deny communion to John Kerry because of his support for abortion, Capuano replied that all Catholics should vote their conscience. "It strikes me almost as un-Christian. Jesus himself never would have denied communion to anyone, even Mary Magdalene." He has evidently felt some frustration as a member of the minority in the House and talked about running for governor in 2006; in January 2005 he announced he would not run.

Since 1998 Capuano has not faced opposition in either primary or general elections. In 2004, local black ministers urged Charles Stith, who was Bill Clinton's ambassador to Tanzania, to run against Capuano as an independent. After Stith voiced some interest, other minority leaders backed Capuano and Stith changed his mind.

Committees

• Financial Services (15th of 32 D): Capital Markets, Insurance & Government Sponsored Enterprises; Housing & Community Opportunity.
• Transportation & Infrastructure (24th of 34 D): Aviation; Highways, Transit & Pipelines.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	90	85	100	91	44	13	19	4	3	7	--
2003	100	--	100	90	--	25	20	12	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	85%	--	14%		89%	--	8%
Social	89%	--	10%		88%	--	0%
Foreign	81%	--	17%		83%	--	17%
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	Michael Capuano (D)	unopposed
2004 primary	Michael Capuano (D)	unopposed
2002 general	Michael Capuano (D)	unopposed
Prior winning percentages: 2000 (100%); 1998 (82%)

2004 Presidential Vote Kerry (D) 168,264 (79%) Bush (R) 40,885 (19%)

2000 Presidential Vote Gore (D) 142,500 (73%) Bush (R) 28,903 (15%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Eighth 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 +33
• District Size: 92 square miles
• Population in 2000: 634,835; 100.0% urban; 0.0% rural
• Median Household Income: $39,300; 19.9% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 12.4% blue collar; 70.6% white collar; 17.0% gray collar; 5.5% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 48.9% White, 21.9% Black, 8.1% Asian, 0.2% Amer. Indian, 0.1% Hawaiian, 3.5% Two+ races, 1.5% Other, 15.9% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 9.9% Irish, 7.3% Italian, 5.2% West Indian
• Click here for statewide demographic data.