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The 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk District is one of 40 electoral districts that each send one senator to the Massachusetts Senate. The district is represented by state Senator Karen Spilka of Ashland, a Democrat.

The district covers seven suburban communities in the MetroWest region, forming a line along Interstate 495 south from Framingham, which is the district's largest population center.

The district has carried its current name, and roughly the same boundaries, since the 2001 redistricting, though it was first established in the 1970s. Between 1989 and 2002, it was known as the Middlesex, Norfolk and Worcester District.

History
Before the 1850s, Massachusetts state senators were elected by county, with Middlesex County electing three to five senators at-large, and Norfolk County 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 cities and towns that now make up the 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk District were initially apportioned to the 3rd Middlesex District (Ashland, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Natick) and West Norfolk District (Franklin, Medway). For the next 60 years, the Middlesex towns would be represented by Middlesex districts (later the 1st Middlesex District or the 4th Middlesex District, as the Senate was reapportioned each decade), and the Norfolk towns would form part of the Norfolk District or 2nd Norfolk District.

Starting in the 1920s, the Legislature began grouping some MetroWest towns from Middlesex and Norfolk counties together in a Middlesex and Norfolk District. The district approved in 1926 included Ashland, Holliston, Hopkinton, Medway and Natick, among other towns. Framingham and Franklin were added to this district in the map approved in 1939.

Reapportionment broke up this district in 1960, but it was restored on roughly the same footprint as today -- the towns of Ashland, Framingham, Franklin, Holliston, Medway and Natick -- in the redistricting of 1973. This grouping was initially labeled the 1st Middlesex and Norfolk District, as a separate group of towns was given the 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk District name.

1975-1978: 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk
The initial 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk District, signed into law in 1973, consisted of suburbs immediately east of the Framingham-Medway area: Dover, Medfield, Millis, Needham and Wellesley, which had previously been part of the Middlesex and Norfolk District; along with Sherborn, Wayland, and two-thirds of the city of Waltham.

The district inherited Wellesley state Senator David H. Locke, who had been serving in the Middlesex and Norfolk District since 1969. In the election of 1974, he defeated a Republican primary challenger, Martin Lee Stone, 9,016 to 2,896. He also won re-election in a contested race.

Locke was re-elected with no opposition in 1976.

1979-1988: 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk
In the redistricting of 1977, most of the 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk towns became part of a new and expanded Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex District, and those on the northern edge, including Waltham, were reassigned to Middlesex districts.

The 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk name was given to what had been the 3rd Middlesex and Norfolk District, consisting of Brookline and Newton, two inner-ring suburbs of Boston. The incumbent state senator from the 3rd, Brookline Democrat Jack Backman, had been serving since 1971 and was re-elected in this renamed district with no opposition in 1978 and 1980. He did face Republican opponents in 1982 and 1984.

Backman did not run for re-election in 1986. Instead, former state Representative Lois Pines, a Newton Democrat, ran for the open seat without opposition.

1989-1994: Middlesex, Norfolk and Worcester
New maps approved in 1987 retained only one "Middlesex and Norfolk" district, so the Brookline-Newton district was renamed the Middlesex and Norfolk District.

The former 1st Middlesex and Norfolk District was expanded to include a town in Worcester County, and took the name Middlesex, Norfolk and Worcester District. This district consisted of Ashland, Framingham, Franklin, Holliston, Medway, Natick and Southborough, and is the forerunner of today's 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk District.

Edward L. Burke was the longtime incumbent senator in this district. In 1988, he defeated Democratic primary challenger Dana E. Cunningham, 7,114 to 3,535. He also faced a November election opponent.

Burke did not run for re-election in 1992. The open seat attracted several candidates. David P. Magnani, who had been Framingham's state representative, prevailed with 9,692, or 55%, of the vote in the Democratic primary election, beating Glenn J. Murphy of Natick (2,858), Joseph L. Bradley of Framingham (2,555) and Robert R. Vallee of Franklin (2,421). For the Republican nomination, Thomas P. Tierney of Framingham beat Joseph Mangiacotti of Natick, 3,212 to 2,289.

1995-2002: Middlesex, Norfolk and Worcester
In the redistricting of 1993, Southborough became part of the Middlesex and Worcester District, and Natick was split, with four of its 10 precincts joining the Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex District. Hopkinton was added to the district, as was one quarter of Westborough. Ashland, Framingham, Franklin, Holliston and Medway remained the core of the district.

For his first re-election bid as senator, Magnani defeated Matthew Zettek, 8,022 to 5,088. He also faced a Republican opponent.

Magnani defeated John F. Moran in the 1996 Democratic primary, 6,079 to 2,913, setting up a rematch of the 1994 general election.

Magnani was re-elected with no opposition in 1998 and 2000.

2003-present: 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk
Population growth in the district led to several precincts being removed in the 2001 reapportionment. Southern Westborough joined the rest of the town in the Middlesex and Worcester District, and the southern half of Franklin was lost to the Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex District. With no Worcester County component, the newly renamed 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk District consisted of Ashland, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Medway, the northern half of Franklin and the western half of Natick.

Magnani was re-elected with no opposition in 2002. He did not run for re-election in 2004.

Three Democrats contested the primary election for the open seat. State Representative Karen Spilka won the election with 6,808 votes, or 53.4 percent, against 3,528 for Gerard Desilets of Framingham and 2,374 for Adam Sisitsky of Framingham.

Spilka was re-elected with no opponents in 2006 and 2008.

Reapportionment in 2011 made only one change to the 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk District's boundaries, the removal of two further precincts of Franklin.

Spilka was re-elected with no opposition in in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018.