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The Bristol 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 Paul Feeney of Foxborough, a Democrat.

Named for the two counties that it partially covers, the district stretches from the southwestern suburbs of Boston to the Rhode Island state line, including part of the city of Attleboro.

The district took roughly its current form in the redistricting of 2001. During previous legislative sessions, it was more often known as the 1st Bristol District or North Bristol District, and at times covered a different set of towns centered on Fall River.

History
Before the 1850s, Massachusetts state senators were elected by county, with Bristol and Norfolk counties 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 Norfolk County towns that now make up the Bristol and Norfolk District were initially apportioned to the West Norfolk District. The two southernmost towns of the current district, Rehoboth and Seekonk, were part of the West Bristol District.

1857-1866: North Bristol
Attleboro (including the territory of present-day North Attleborough), Mansfield and Norton were part of the initial North Bristol District, along with Easton, Raynham and Taunton.

1866-1948: 1st Bristol
In 1866, the district was renamed the 1st Bristol District, though the boundaries remained the same: Attleboro, Easton, Mansfield, Norton, Raynham and Taunton.

New lines in 1876 added the town of Seekonk. This lineup remained in place through the redistricting of 1886.

The 1st Bristol District expanded to its south again in 1896, adding Berkley and Rehoboth, and the newly incorporated North Attleborough, which separated from Attleboro but stayed in the same Senate district. It now consisted of Attleboro, Berkley, Easton, Mansfield, North Attleborough, Norton, Raynham, Rehoboth, Seekonk and Taunton.

This core would remain part of the district through the early 20th century, adding one or two towns at a time as populations shifted toward Bristol County's urban centers to the south. Dighton was added in 1906; Freetown in 1926; Acushnet and Swansea in 1939.

1948-1970: 1st Bristol
Acushnet and Freetown moved to the 2nd Bristol District in the reapportionment of 1948, while the 1st Bristol District added Somerset. The district now consisted of Attleboro, Berkley, Dighton, Easton, Mansfield, North Attleborough, Norton, Raynham, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Somerset, Swansea and Taunton.

John Francis Parker, the part-time mayor of Taunton, was elected state senator for this district in 1952. He would represent the district for nearly four decades.

The redistricting of 1960 removed Easton and Mansfield, which joined the 2nd Norfolk District. The rest of the 1st Bristol District remained intact.

1971-1974: 1st Bristol
Though its name did not change, the 1st Bristol District absorbed towns from a neighboring county for the first time in the redistricting of 1970, though it retained its Attleboro-Taunton core. Three towns from Plymouth County joined the district, while Berkley and Somerest were lost to the 2nd Bristol District, and North Attleborough and Norton were lost to the Norfolk and Bristol District.

The 1st Bristol District now contained Attleboro, Bridgewater, Dighton, Lakeville, Middleborough, Raynham, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Swansea and Taunton.

Parker was re-elected with no opponents in 1970 and 1972.

1975-1978: Bristol and Norfolk
Just three years later, Massachusetts redistricted again, and the Plymouth County towns were ceded to the new Bristol, Plymouth and Norfolk District. In their place, the renamed Bristol and Norfolk District reclaimed North Attleborough and added two towns in southwestern Norfolk County, Plainville and Wrentham.

Parker was re-elected with no opponents in 1974 and 1976.

1979-1988: 1st Bristol
In the third redistricting of the 1970s, North Attleborough and the Norfolk County towns were moved to the newly formed Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex District, prompting the Attleboro-Taunton district to be retake the 1st Bristol District name and expand south to include more Bristol County towns. It now included Attleboro, Berkley, Dighton, Easton, Norton, Raynham, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Swansea and Taunton.

Parker was re-elected with no opponents in 1978, 1980, 1982 and 1984. He did face an opponent in 1986.

1989-2002: 1st Bristol
Redistricting in 1987 broke up northern Bristol County among three multi-county districts. Attleboro was reassigned to the Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex District. Easton and Norton became part of the Norfolk and Bristol District. Most of the rest of the district became part of the Bristol and Plymouth District. Parker opted not to run for re-election in his new district.

Only Swansea remained in the 1st Bristol District, which was largely based on the territory of the old 2nd Bristol District. The district now included the city of Fall River and the adjacent towns of Freetown, Somerset, Swansea and Westport. The 1st Bristol District's boundaries remained unchanged in the reapportionment of 1993.

The district inherited the incumbent senator from the 2nd Bristol District, Thomas C. Norton of Fall River, who had been serving since 1984. Norton was unopposed for re-election in 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1998. He resigned in 1999 after being appointed to the state's Low-level Radioactive Waste Management Board.

The special election in late 1999 saw contested races in both the Democratic primary and in the general election. In the primary, state Representative Joan Menard of Somerset took 9,127 votes, or 47%, beating three Fall River candidates, Patrick C. Norton (5,960 votes), John Alberto (3,209) and Linda Pereira (1,087). Menard also went on to win the general election.

The next year, Menard again faced a primary election race, defeating John Barry McDonald, 10,505 votes to 6,594. She had no opponent in the November 2000 election.

2003-2012: Bristol and Norfolk
The redistricting of 2001 eliminated the 1st Bristol District and restored the Bristol and Norfolk District. The new district stretched from central Bristol County up to the Route 128 corridor. The district included the eastern half of Attleboro, as well as the Bristol towns of Mansfield, Norton, Rehoboth and Seekonk, and the Norfolk County towns of Dover, Foxborough, Medfield, the northern half of Sharon and Walpole.

This district inherited the incumbent state senator from the Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth District, Walpole Republican Jo Ann Sprague, who was re-elected in her new district with no opponents in 2002.

She did not run for re-election in 2004. In a Republican primary election contested by two Mansfield residents, David W. McCarter beat Philip A. Brown, 1,339 to 1,109. McCarter faced Democratic nominee James E. Timilty, who had run against Sprague twice in their old district, and was the son of a former state senator.

The district saw a contested election again in 2006.

Timilty was re-elected with no opponents in 2010.

2013-present: Bristol and Norfolk
New lines drawn in 2011 moved Dover into the Norfolk and Suffolk District, but otherwise left the Bristol and Norfolk District unchanged. Communities in the district included half of Attleboro, Foxborough, Mansfield, Medfield, Norton, Seekonk, half of Sharon, Rehoboth and Walpole.

Timilty was re-elected with no opponents in 2014 and 2016. He resigned in April 2017 to accept appointment to the post of Norfolk County treasurer. The resulting open seat attracted competitive special primary elections that year in both the Democratic and Republican parties.

The Democrats nominated Foxborough Selectman Paul Feeney, who garnered 3,152 votes, or 58.4%, against 2,222 for Edward R. Philips. Jacob J. Ventura won a four-way Republican primary with 2,241 votes, or 48.9%, beating Michael C. Berry (1,469 votes), Tim Hempton (613) and Harry C. Brousaides (252).

Feeney and Ventura faced off again in the 2018 general election.