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

Taunton is the largest population center in the district, which consists mostly of suburban and rural towns in Southeastern Massachusetts. It is named for the two counties that it partially covers.

The district was formed in the legislative redistricting of 1993.

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 Plymouth and Bristol District (Bridgewater, Carver, Marion, Middleborough, Wareham) were initially apportioned to the South Plymouth District. The Bristol County towns were split between the North Bristol District (Raynham and Taunton) and West Bristol District (Berkley, Dighton).

1857-1866: South Plymouth District
The ancestor of today's 1st Plymouth and Bristol District was the South Plymouth District, which covered western Plymouth County from Bridgewater to the South Coast, including two towns in Bristol County. This district included Acushnet, Bridgewater, Carver, Fairhaven, Lakeville, Marion, Mattapoisett, Middleborough and Rochester.

Redistricting in 1866 reassigned Bridgewater to the 2nd Plymouth District, Acushnet and Fairhaven to the 3rd Bristol District, and the rest of the towns to the 1st Plymouth District.

Through most of the ensuing century, the Taunton area belonged to the 1st Bristol District, while southwestern Plymouth County formed part of the 1st Plymouth District or, later, the Plymouth and Barnstable District.

Other predecessor districts
Though Taunton touches the Plymouth County line, it was not until the 1970s that it was placed in the same senate district as towns from that county. In 1970, the 1st Bristol District was expanded to cover Bridgewater, Lakeville and Middleborough, as well as Taunton and other portions of northern Bristol County. This alignment lasted only until 1974.

The immediate predecessor of the 1st Plymouth and Bristol District was the Bristol and Plymouth District approved in 1987. This district contained Berkley, Bridgewater, Carver, Dighton, Halifax, Lakeville, Marion, Mattapoisett, Middleborough, Raynham, Rehoboth, Rochester, Seekonk and Taunton.

It was in this district that Marc Pacheco was first elected senator, in 1992.

1994-2002: Dighton to Halifax to Mattapoisett
In the reapportionment of 1993, Seekonk and Rehoboth were reassigned to the Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth District; the rest of the Bristol and Plymouth District towns formed the new 1st Plymouth and Bristol District: Berkley, Bridgewater, Carver, Dighton, Halifax, Lakeville, Marion, Mattapoisett, Middleborough, Raynham, Rochester and Taunton.

Pacheco was re-elected in this district with no opponents in 1994. He did face a Republican challenger in 1996.

Pacheco was re-elected with no opponents in 1998. He did face an opponent in 2000.

2003-present: Dighton to Bridgewater to Wareham
Redistricting in 2001 moved Halifax to the 2nd Plymouth and Bristol District, Lakeville and Rochester to the 1st Bristol and Plymouth District, and Mattapoisett to the 2nd Bristol and Plymouth District. In return, the 1st Plymouth and Bristol District gained Wareham, which had previously been in the Plymouth and Barnstable District.

The 1st Plymouth and Bristol District now included Berkley, Bridgewater, Carver, Dighton, Marion, Middleborough, Raynham, Taunton and Wareham. The district's boundaries would not be changed in the reapportionment of 2011.

Pacheco was re-elected with no opponents in 2002. Republicans did nominate a challenger in 2004.

Pacheco was re-elected with no opponents in 2006 and 2008, before facing his next opponent in 2010.

Pacheco was re-elected with no opponents in 2012. He faced a challengers again in 2014 and 2016.

Pacheco's opponent in 2016 was Plymouth County Commissioner Sandra Wright.

Pacheco was re-elected with no opponents in 2018.