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The 5th Middlesex District is one of 40 electoral districts that each send one senator to the Massachusetts Senate. The district is represented by state Sen. Jason Lewis of Winchester, a Democrat.

With the exception of 10 years in the 2000s, the Massachusetts Senate district map has included a 5th Middlesex District since district representation was adopted in 1857. What would become today's 5th Middlesex District was instead known as the Middlesex and Essex District during that time.

Though the district name dates back more than a century and a half, the specific communities it covers have changed over the years, from the current district in the suburbs due north of Boston to previous apportionments covering towns to the west and northwest of the city.

Cities and towns
Under the apportionment plan of 2011, the 5th Middlesex District consists of Malden, Melrose, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield and the eastern half of Winchester (precincts 1, 2, 3 and 8). The district's towns form a north-south line along the Middlesex Fells and Interstate 93 corridor north of Boston, and lie along the eastern edge of Middlesex County, from which the district takes its name.

History
The 5th Middlesex District can trace its history back to the original state senatorial districts created in 1857. Before the 1857 apportionment, senators were elected by county, with Middlesex County electing three to five senators at-large.

1857-1866: Eastern Middlesex towns
When the current system of single-member districts was enacted in 1857, Middlesex County was split into six districts. The two southern cities of today's 5th Middlesex District, Malden and Melrose, were placed in the original 1st Middlesex District, but the remaining towns were included in the inaugural 5th Middlesex District, which consisted of Bedford, Billerica, Burlington, Lexington, Medford, North Reading, Reading, South Reading (the future Wakefield), Stoneham, Wilmington, Winchester and Woburn.

1866-1896: Northwestern Middlesex towns
New lines drawn in 1866 renumbered the eastern district as the 6th Middlesex District and created a new 5th Middlesex District out of what had been the 4th Middlesex District, covering the largely rural towns of northwestern Middlesex County. This district, which shared no towns in common with the previous 5th Middlesex District but bordered it to the west, included the towns of Acton, Ashby, Boxborough, Carlisle, Concord, Dunstable, Groton, Hudson, Lincoln, Littleton, Marlborough, Pepperell, Shirley, Stow, Sudbury, Townsend, Tyngsborough and Westford. The district grew by two towns in 1871 but did not add any territory, as the new town of Ayer incorporated, taking land from Groton, and the town of Maynard incorporated, taking land from Stow and Sudbury.

Redistricting in 1876 added Chelmsford and Dracut, and removed Marlborough. The district now consisted of Acton, Ashby, Ayer, Boxborough, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, Dracut, Dunstable, Groton, Hudson, Lincoln, Littleton, Maynard, Pepperell, Shirley, Stow, Sudbury, Townsend, Tyngsborough and Westford.

In the reapportionment of 1886, the district expanded to the east, adding Bedford, Billerica, Burlington, Tewksbury and Woburn, and removing four towns on its southern edge, Concord and Lincoln (to the 2nd Middlesex District), and Maynard and Sudbury (to the 4th Middlesex District). With the addition of Tewksbury in its northeast corner, the district now completely surrounded -- but did not include -- the city of Lowell, which formed the 7th Middlesex District by itself.

1896-1926: Waltham west to Marlborough
Redistricting in 1896 reassigned most of the former 5th Middlesex District towns to the 6th Middlesex District or 7th Middlesex District. The 5th Middlesex designation was given to a line of cities and towns north to west of Boston, stretching from the inner ring of suburbs to the Worcester County border. The new 5th Middlesex District consisted of Lexington, Lincoln, Marlborough, Medford, Sudbury, Waltham, Wayland and Winchester.

New lines drawn in 1906 retained the district's core Marlborough-to-Waltham orientation but made several changes on the edges, adding Concord, Hudson, Maynard and Stow in the northwest, and Belmont in the southeast, and removing Medford and Winchester in the northeast.

Reapportionment in 1916 made only one change to the district, dropping Belmont. The 5th Middlesex District now consisted of Concord, Hudson, Lexington, Lincoln, Marlborough, Maynard, Stow, Sudbury, Waltham and Wayland.

1926-1970: Waltham, Watertown and northwest
The district's western end shifted slightly to the north in the redistricting of 1926, with the addition of Acton and Boxborough, and removal of Marlborough. On the eastern end of the district, Lexington and Wayland were removed, and Watertown was added. This configuration would stand for the next 34 years, with just one change, the addition of Littleton in 1948. Through the 1950s the 5th Middlesex District consisted of Acton, Boxborough, Concord, Hudson, Lincoln, Littleton, Maynard, Stow, Sudbury, Waltham and Watertown.

The apportionment of 1960 shifted the western end of the 5th Middlesex District farther to the north, dropping Acton, Boxborough, Hudson, Maynard, Stow and Sudbury, and adding several towns along the district's former northern and northwestern borders. The district now included Ayer, Bedford, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, Lincoln, Littleton, Shirley, Waltham, Watertown and Westford.

1971-1974: Northwest to Worcester County
Half of Waltham was redistricted into the 2nd Middlesex District in the redistricting of 1970, and Watertown was moved to the 8th Middlesex District. Wayland and Weston were added, and the western portion of the 5th Middlesex District returned to a configuration similar to its 1926 borders, but with the addition for the first time of two towns in northeastern Worcester County, Harvard and Lancaster. The district now included wards 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 of Waltham, as well as Acton, Boxborough, Concord, Harvard, Hudson, Lancaster, Lincoln, Littleton, Maynard, Stow, Sudbury, Wayland and Weston. Despite the addition of towns in Worcester County, the district retained the name 5th Middlesex District.

Senator James DeNormandie was a longtime incumbent heading into the election of 1970.

DeNormandie did not run for re-election in 1972. His son Philip DeNormandie did contest a three-way Republican primary election, but finished second. Acton state Representative Chester G. Atkins defeated Vincent M. Principe for the Democratic nomination.

1975-2002: Waltham north to Chelmsford
Just three years later, the another redistricting moved the northwestern towns into the Middlesex and Worcester District, and most of the eastern side of the district into the new Second Middlesex and Norfolk District. Atkins was re-elected in the Middlesex and Worcester District.

The 5th Middlesex District name was assigned to the other half of Waltham and neighboring towns in a line due north. Cities and towns in the 5th Middlesex District included Bedford, Burlington, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Lincoln, Wilmington, two out of eight precincts of Belmont, the western half of Lexington, and three out of eight wards of Waltham.

Ronald MacKenzie, the incumbent senator from the former 7th Middlesex District, ran for re-election in the new 5th Middlesex District.

MacKenzie resigned from the Senate in March 1977, a month after being convicted of extortion as part of the MBM scandal. In the ensuing special primary elections, Michael Cara won 66% of the vote in a three-way Republican race, and Bedford state Representative Carol C. Amick drew 71% in a race against two other Democrats.

When district lines were again redrawn in 1977, the 5th Middlesex District's borders were simplified to follow town lines. The partial coverage of Belmont and Lexington was dropped, as was all of Wilmington, but the remaining wards of Waltham were added. The district now included all of Bedford, Burlington, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Lincoln, Waltham and Weston.

Amick won 79.6% of the vote in the 1980 Democratic primary election, defeating Virginia Mooney, and was re-elected with no November opponent.

Amick took 75% of the Democratic vote to defeat a primary challenger in 1984, but faced no November opponent.

Redistricting in 1987 added Wayland on the southwest border of the district and Concord on the western border, and removed Burlington from the eastern edge. The 5th Middlesex District now consisted of all of Bedford, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, Lincoln, Waltham, Wayland and Weston.

Amick resigned in early 1990. Wayland state Representative Lucile Hicks took the Republican nomination with 81.6% of the vote. Weston Selectman Joseph Mullin was the choice of 55% of Democrats.

Hicks was re-elected with no opponents in 1992.

Waltham was again split between two senate districts in the apportionment of 1993, with the 5th Middlesex District keeping the western half of the city. The district also gained Sudbury and the western half of Lexington. For the rest of the 1990s, the 5th Middlesex District included Bedford, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Concord, half of Lexington, Lincoln, Sudbury, half of Waltham, Wayland and Weston.

After being re-elected with no opponents in 1994, Hicks did not run for re-election in 1996. Instead, state Representative Hasty Evans was the Republican nominee, and Lincoln Selectman Susan Fargo was the Democratic candidate.

2003-2012: Middlesex and Essex District
What had been the 5th Middlesex District was renumbered as the 3rd Middlesex District in the senate district map drawn in 2001. Fargo was re-elected in this district with no opponents.

As there were only four senate districts fully within Middlesex County, there was no 5th Middlesex District following the elections of 2002. Instead, the map included a new Middlesex and Essex District, which is the forerunner of today's 5th Middlesex District. This district served most of the same towns that had been in the 3rd Middlesex District in the 1970s to 1990s -- Malden, most of Melrose, Reading, Stoneham and Wakefield -- with the addition of Lynnfield in Essex County.

This district inherited incumbent Senator Richard Tisei from the former 3rd Middlesex District. Tisei was re-elected with no opponents in 2002.

Tisei was again re-elected with no opponents in 2006 and 2008. In 2010, Tisei did not run for re-election, instead accepting the Republican Party's nomination for lieutenant governor alongside gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker. The Baker-Tisei ticket lost to incumbent Democrats Deval Patrick and Tim Murray.

Katherine Clark, who had been elected a state representative in 2008, defeated Mike Day, 63.8% to 35.9%, for the Democratic nomination. Republicans nominated Malden City Councilor Craig Spadafora.

2013-present: Malden north to Reading
Redistricting in 2011 removed Lynnfield from the district, expanded to cover all of Melrose, and added the eastern half of Winchester. As it no longer represented any part of Essex County, this district became the 5th Middlesex District.

Clark was re-elected with no opponents in 2012. In 2013, she ran for U.S. representative to replace Edward Markey, who had recently been elected U.S. senator, and won the December 2013 special election, creating a vacancy in the 5th Middlesex District.

Winchester state Representative Jason Lewis won the Democratic special primary election with 43% of the vote, against 35% for Malden state Representative Christopher Fallon and 21.7% for former Stoneham School Committee member Anthony V. Guardia.