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The Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex District is one of 40 electoral districts that each send one senator to the Massachusetts Senate. The district is represented by state Senator Becca Rausch of Needham, a Democrat.

Named for the three counties that it partially covers, the district is made up of several outer suburban towns west and southwest of Boston, in a line from Attleboro north to Wayland, as well as portions of two closer suburbs, Needham and Wellesley.

There has been a Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex District since redistricting in 1977, always centered on a line of towns from North Attleborough due north to Sherborn, though other towns included at the edges have changed over time.

History
Before the 1850s, Massachusetts state senators were elected by county, with Middlesex County electing three to five senators at-large, and Bristol and Norfolk each electing two or three. Even after the introduction of single-member state senatorial districts in 1857, the districts tended to stay within county lines.

The towns that now make up the Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex District were initially apportioned to districts in their home counties. The West Norfolk District included Franklin, Millis (then part of Medway), Needham, Plainville, Wellesley and Wrentham (which included the future town of Norfolk). The 3rd Middlesex District contained Natick, Sherborn, Wayland. The North Bristol District contained Attleboro, including what is now North Attleborough).

In the 1970s, legislative maps began grouping the towns west of Boston not by county, but along north-south axes that included towns in both Middlesex and Norfolk counties. The redistricting of 1977 created the first Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex District.

1979-1988: Mansfield to Wellesley
Initially, the district included Dover, Foxborough, Millis, Medfield, Needham, Norfolk, Plainville, Wellesley and Wrentham, in Norfolk County; Sherborn, in Middlesex County; and Mansfield, and North Attleborough, in Bristol County. These towns had previously been in the Norfolk and Suffolk District (Norfolk), Bristol, Plymouth and Norfolk District (Foxborough, Mansfield), Bristol and Norfolk District (North Attleborough, Plainville, Wrentham), and 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk District (the rest).

The new district inherited the incumbent 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk senator, David H. Locke, who had been serving since 1969. He won re-election in his new district in 1978.

The same two candidates ran again in 1980.

At some point between 1984 and 1986, Locke changed his residence to Sherborn. He was re-elected with no opposition in 1986.

1989-1994: Attleboro to Wellesley
Following the redistricting of 1987, the Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex District lost three towns -- Foxborough, Mansfield and Medfield -- and gained one city, Attleboro. From north to south, lined up end-to-end, the district now consisted of Wellesley, Needham, Dover, Sherborn, Millis, Norfolk, Wrentham, Plainville, North Attleborough and Attleboro.

David H. Locke was re-elected as senator in this district with no opposition in 1988 and 1990.

In 1992, after not contesting the seat in the previous three elections, the Democrats saw a three-way primary election for the nomination to challenge Locke. Cheryl Jacques won with 7,176 votes, or 50.4%, beating two candidates from Dover, Paul Childa, 5,916, and J. Joseph Lyndon, 1,148. She went on to a decisive victory in November.

1995-2002: Attleboro to Natick
The reapportionment of 1993 kept the southern half the district unchanged, but redrew the northern boundary. Dover was reassigned to the Norfolk and Suffolk District, and the northern half of Wellesley became part of the 1st Middlesex and Norfolk District. The eastern half of Natick was added to the Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex District.

Republicans had a contested primary in 1994, with Susan Phillips defeating Morgan Palmer, 4,928 to 2,726, for the nomination to challenge Jacques.

Jacques again defeated Republican challengers in 1996 and 1998.

For the 2000 election, two Republicans sought the nomination. Earl Henry Sholley won, 1,059 to 740, over Daryl E. Hanlin. He then lost to Jacques in the general election.

2003-2012: Attleboro to Wayland
New lines drawn in 2001 again made changes on the edges of the Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex District. Attleboro was split, with only two and a half wards remaining in the district. Additions included Wayland and the southern half of Franklin. The district now consisted of, from north to south, Wayland, part of Natick, part of Wellesley, Needham, Sherborn, Millis, Norfolk, part of Franklin, Wrentham, Plainville, North Attleborough, and part of Attleboro.

The 2002 election was a rematch of 2000, with Jacques again defeating Sholley.

Jacques resigned from the Senate at the start of 2004 to serve as president of the Human Rights Campaign. In the race to serve out the final nine months of her term, both the Democrats and Republicans had contested special primary elections in February 2004. State Representative Scott Brown won the GOP primary decisively over third-time challenger Earl Henry Sholley, 4,391 to 712. On the Democratic side, Angus G. McQuilken won a six-way race with 4,238 votes, or 49.9%, defeating Richard W. Gatto (1,579 votes), Daniel P. Matthews (1,366), James F. Klocke (1,142), Ronald C. Lipof (189) and Terence P. Noonan (133).

Eight months later, McQuilken won the nomination to challenge Brown again in another crowded primary, capturing 55.8% of the Democratic vote, 5,440 votes, against Gerald A. Wasserman (3,080 votes), Barbara A. Smith (695) and Patricia B. Ross (504).

Brown was re-elected with no opponents in 2006.

When United States Senator Ted Kennedy died in 2009, Brown ran in the ensuing special election, and won the January 2010 vote. In the special election to replace Brown, Republicans nominated state Representative Richard J. Ross. Peter B. Smulowitz narrowly won the Democratic nomination with 3,806, or 50.8% of the special primary vote, against Lida E. Harkins' 3,667 votes.

After serving half a year in the Senate, Ross was re-elected with no opposition in November 2010.

2013-present: Attleboro to Wayland
When the districts were reapportioned in 2011, no towns were added or removed from the district, but a few precincts were added in Franklin and taken away in Needham, which was now split between the Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex District and the Norfolk and Suffolk District. Ross was again re-elected with no opposition in 2012.

In 2014, Dylan Hayre won the Democratic primary election, 4,710 to 4,434 over Sara Lynn Reynolds, and faced Ross that November.

Ross again defeated a challenger in 2016.

In 2018, Becca Rausch emerged from a three-way race in the Democratic primary election, with 6,817 votes, or 53%, defeating Jacqueline S. Katz (4,710 votes) and Kristopher K. Aleksov (1,305). She then went on to unseat Ross in the general election.