Tsongas Defeats Golnik for Third Congressional District Seat

Niki Tsongas represented the Massachusetts Fifth Congressional District for five years, and now she’ll get a chance to represent the Third.

After Massachusetts lost a Congressional seat following the 2010 U.S. Census, Tsongas defeated challenger Jon Golnik (R-Carlisle) in the first election for the new Massachusetts Third District.

Retaining much of the old district, Tsongas finds herself losing constituents in certain towns like Tewksbury and Wayland, but gaining a large swath of new towns in the Fitchburg area in an area that stretches from Marlborough to the Lawrence area.

Likewise, the Golnik campaign also hoped that the change in the district’s borders could help change the dynamic from 2010, where Golnik lost to Tsongas by 12 points.

Golnik thought the new district was going to be helpful to him, he said. However, the Democratic turnout “was overwhelming.” You have to “tip your hat” to the democrats, he said.

Although voters now have two years before they head to the polls again for State and Federal elections, we may see a third edition of this contest in 2014.

According to Golnik, he is unsure if he will run again. He is going to go back to being a husband and father and reassess where he is headed, he said.

“I love the idea of serving and it’s certainly something that I’d like to continue to do in some way, shape or form,” Golnik told Patch.

Tsongas thanked Golnik for a spirited race and will now return to Washington hoping to make progress on a variety of issues such as aiding veterans and helping fix the economy.

"During the next two years, I am committed to meeting our challenges head on our steady progress," said Tsongas. "I am confident that together we can make a difference."