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The Plymouth 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 Patrick O'Connor of Weymouth, a Democrat.

The district covers Weymouth and seven other South Shore communities, southeast of Boston. It takes its names from the counties that it partially covers, Plymouth and Norfolk.

The district was formed in the legislative redistricting of 1993. There was also an unrelated Plymouth and Norfolk District on the legislative map from 1975 to 1978.

History
Before the 1850s, Massachusetts state senators were elected by county, with Norfolk 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.

In the first apportionment, Weymouth was placed in the East Norfolk District, with the rest of the towns of the future Plymouth and Norfolk District being apportioned to the North Plymouth District (Cohasset, Hingham, Hull, Norwell, Scituate) or Middle Plymouth District (Duxbury, Marshfield).

Subsequent redistrictings placed all or some of these towns, at various times and in various combinations, in the Cape and Plymouth District, 1st Norfolk District, Norfolk and Plymouth District, 1st Plymouth District and 2nd Plymouth District.

1974-1978: Brockton and surrounding towns
The first district to be called the Plymouth and Norfolk District was a renaming of the Plymouth District (later known as the 1st Plymouth District and 2nd Plymouth and Bristol District), the district covering Brockton and surrounding towns. This district shared no towns in common with the current Plymouth and Norfolk District. It consisted of Avon, Abington, Brockton, Rockland and Stoughton.

Anna Buckley of Brockton, a Democrat, served as the district's senator during the two legislative sessions that this district name was used. She was elected with no opponents both times.

In the redistricting of 1977, Avon and Stoughton were removed from the district, so the "Norfolk" portion of its name was dropped. It would be a decade and a half before the Plymouth and Norfolk District reappeared on a legislative map, though during this time the Norfolk and Plymouth District occupied essentially the same territory as the current Plymouth and Norfolk District.

1995-2002: Braintree to Duxbury
The roots of today's Plymouth and Norfolk District lie in the Norfolk and Plymouth District of 1916 to 1994. Though its northern, southern and inland boundaries shifted over 80 years, it always included a core of communities along the coast from Weymouth to Marshfield.

In its final iteration as a South Shore district, the 1988-1994 Norfolk and Plymouth District consisted of Cohasset, Duxbury, Hingham, Hull, Marshfield, Scituate and Weymouth.

New maps drawn in 1993 reassigned the "Norfolk and Plymouth" name to what had been the former Norfolk District, and flipped the order of the names of the old Norfolk and Plymouth District. The new Plymouth and Norfolk District included all the same towns as its predecessor district, with the addition of three precincts in the northeastern corner of Braintree.

Brian J. McDonald ran for re-election in 1994 as the incumbent senator. He had been elected in 1992 in the Norfolk and Plymouth District, unseating former Senator Robert L. Hedlund. In 1994, McDonald first had to defeat a Democratic primary challenge from Timothy E. Gage, 8,063 to 5,861. Meanwhile, Hedlund prevailed in a three-way Republican primary to mount a comeback attempt, taking 5,219 primary votes, or 55.6%, to 2,592 for Carolyn C. Van Tine and 1,575 for Donald A. Hussey.

The 1994 election was thus a rematch of 1992, only this time with the addition of an independent candidate, and a different result.

Hedlund again faced a Democratic opponent in 1996.

Hedlund was re-elected with no opponents in 1998. In 2000, James M. Cantwell defeated Ted LeClair, 7,862 to 6,491, to win the Democratic nomination and face Hedlund in November.

2003-2012: Weymouth to Duxbury
The Braintree precincts were removed from the Plymouth and Norfolk District in the redistricting of 2001, and the town of Norwell was added.

Hedlund was again re-elected in 2002.

Hedlund was re-elected with no opponents in 2004. Two years later, Stephen A. Lynch defeated Matthias J. Mulvey for the 2006 Democratic nomination, 12,348 to 9,497.

Hedlund was re-elected with no opponents in 2008. He did not face a Democrat in 2010, but did have an independent challenger.

2013-present: Weymouth to Duxbury
No changes were made to the Plymouth and Norfolk District's boundaries in the 2011 reapportionment. The communities in the district remained Cohasset, Duxbury, Hingham, Hull, Marshfield, Norwell, Scituate and Weymouth.

In 2012, Genevieve S. Davis beat Steve May in the Democratic primary election, 4,033 to 1,498.

Hedlund was re-elected with no opponents in 2014. In November 2015, he was elected mayor of Weymouth, and resigned his senate seat the following January.

Both major parties had contested primary elections in the spring 2016 special election to fill the remainder of Hedlund's term. The Democrats nominated Hull Selectman Joan Meschino, who defeated Hingham Selectman and former state Representative Paul J. Gannon, 3,714 to 2,337. The Republicans nominated Weymouth Town Council President Patrick O'Connor, who defeated Stephen D. Gill, 3,706 to 618.

Running for re-election just half a year later, O'Connor again beat Gill for the GOP nomination, 3,868 to 1,131. Meschino was again nominated as his opponent, having defeated Brian Richard Cook, 3,773 to 2,558, in the Democratic primary. She was also nominated to run for state representative, however, and chose to pursue that office instead. The Democratic State Committee gave the senate nomination to Paul Gannon, who had declared his candidacy too late to appear on ballots, and garnered 60 write-in votes.

O'Connor was re-elected again in 2018, in a three-way race.