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The 1st Bristol and Plymouth District is one of 40 electoral districts that each send one senator to the Massachusetts Senate. The district is represented by state Senator Michael Rodrigues of Westport, a Democrat.

Named for the two counties that it partially covers, the district consists of Fall River and several smaller nearby towns in Southeastern Massachusetts. Under previous apportionment plans, it was known as the Bristol and Plymouth District, 3rd Bristol District or the West Bristol District

Along with what are now the 2nd Bristol and Plymouth District and the former 1st Bristol District, it is one of three districts that have represented the South Coast since 1857. Throughout their history, one of these three districts has included Fall River and neighboring towns, while another has included New Bedford and neighboring towns, though the district names have been swapped at times.

History
Before the 1850s, Massachusetts state senators were elected by county, with Bristol and Plymouth 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 Plymouth County towns in today's 1st Bristol and Plymouth District (Lakeville and Rochester) were initially apportioned to the South Plymouth District.

1857-1876: West Bristol
Bristol County was split into three districts, with the West Bristol District consisting of Berkley, Dighton, Fall River, Freetown, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Somerset, Swansea and Westport.

The Bristol County districts were renamed in 1866, with the former West District now called the 3rd Bristol District, though its borders did not change.

1876- : 3rd Bristol
In the reapportionment of 1876, Freetown and Westport remained in the 3rd Bristol District, but all of its other towns were swapped out. Seekonk became part of the 1st Bristol District, while Fall River and the other central Bristol County towns became the new 2nd Bristol District.

The 3rd Bristol District now centered on New Bedford, and would continue to do so for the next 100 years. The district now included Acushnet, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Freetown, New Bedford and Westport.

This lineup stayed constant until 1926, when Freetown was lost to the 1st Bristol District.

In 1939, Acushnet was also moved to the 1st Bristol District. This left only Dartmouth, Fairhaven, New Bedford and Westport in the 3rd Bristol District.

1960-1974: 3rd Bristol
In 1960, Fairhaven and Westport became part of the Cape and Plymouth District, and the 3rd Bristol District was curtailed to just New Bedford and Dartmouth.

The redistricting of 1970 added Fairhaven back to the 3rd Bristol District.

In the Democratic primary election of 1970, George G. Mendonca won the nomination with 9,963 votes (60.8%) over Roger L. Tougas.

1975-1978: Bristol and Plymouth
New lines drawn in 1973 expanded the district into Plymouth County for the first time, prompting a name change. The district now consisted of Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Mattapoisett and New Bedford.

Mendonca ran for re-election in this district, but lost a three-way Democratic primary when George Rogers, a former New Bedford mayor and state representative, took 10,348 votes (45.5%) to 8,935 for Mendonca and 3,399 for Robert M. Hunt. Rogers went on to win the seat in November.

Rogers was re-elected with no opponents in 1976.

1979-1988: Bristol and Plymouth
Another Plymouth County town was added to the district in the redistricting of 1977, expanding the Bristol and Plymouth District to cover Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Marion, Mattapoisett and New Bedford.

Fighting bribery charges for which he would eventually be convicted, Rogers lost the Democratic primary election in 1978 to Robert M. Hunt, who had finished third behind Rogers and Mendonca in the primary four years before. Hunt took 10,310 votes to Rogers' 9,971. Hunt went on to win in November.

Hunt only served one term, as he lost a four-way Democratic primary election in 1980. Former Fairhaven state Representative William Q. MacLean Jr. won 13,452 votes, or 51%, beating the 10,399 for Hunt, 2,331 for Thomas D. Lopes and 170 for Joseph Bello Ventre.

MacLean was re-elected with no opponents in 1982, 1984 and 1986.

1989-1994: Bristol and Plymouth
Marion and Mattapoisett were the only towns to remain in the district after the reapportionment of 1987, which shifted Dartmouth, Fairhaven and New Bedford (along with Acushnet) to the 2nd Bristol District.

The new Bristol and Plymouth District added several towns that had previously been in the 1st Bristol District and 2nd Plymouth District. It now consisted of Berkley, Bridgewater, Carver, Dighton, Halifax, Lakeville, Marion, Mattapoisett, Middleborough, Raynham, Rehoboth, Rochester, Seekonk and Taunton.

Taunton Democratic state Representative and former Mayor Theodore J. Aleixo Jr. ran unopposed for the seat. Aleixo served only one term, as he was unseated by a Republican in the election of 1990.

Wall also served only one term. In 1992, state Representative Marc Pacheco won the Democratic nomination with 10,338 votes, or 59.2%, over Carolyn Morwick (3,676 votes) and Edward W. Pletnik Jr. (3,451). Pacheco then defeated Wall in November.

The reapportionment of 1993 did not include a Bristol and Plymouth district. Seekonk and Rehoboth were reassigned to the Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth District; the rest of the district towns formed the new 1st Plymouth and Bristol District.

2003-present: 1st Bristol and Plymouth
Today's 1st Bristol and Plymouth District was created in the district map drawn in 2001, when Lakeville and Rochester were added to the former 1st Bristol District, occupying a similar footprint to the original West Bristol District. The new district includes Fall River, Freetown, Lakeville, Rochester, Somerset, Swansea and Westport. The district's borders were not changed in the reapportionment of 2011.

Incumbent Senator Joan Menard was re-elected in this district with no opponents in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008. Sometime between 2002 and 2004, she changed her residence to Fall River. She did not run for re-election in 2010.

Westport state Representative Michael Rodrigues captured the Democratic nomination for the open seat, with 7,152 votes, or 40.1%, in a four-way race with John R. Mitchell (5,128 votes), Michael J. Coogan (3,475) and Lorne K. Lawless (2,090).

In 2012, Rodrigues won the Democratic primary over David P. Meade Jr., 9,401 to 2,925. He did not face a November opponent. He won re-election again in 2014, in a rematch of the November 2010 election.

Rodrigues was re-elected with no opponents in 2016 and 2018.