The Massachusetts legislature’s Special Joint Committee on Redistricting has released maps detailing proposed changes to the state’s House, Senate, Congressional, and Governor’s Council voting districts. These changes reflect the most recent 2020 federal census data for Massachusetts and is required every 10 years by the U.S. Constitution. Many of the Joint Committee’s proposed changes for this year’s redistricting efforts aim to improve minority representation in certain parts of the state.
Some of the proposed changes and anticipated outcomes include:
Senate districts
- Lawrence and a section of downtown Haverhill will move from the Second Essex and Middlesex Senate District to a new 19th District. Methuen and parts of Haverhill that are currently in the First Essex Senate District will move to this new 19th District. These changes aim to create a majority-minority district.
- Sections of Haverhill, Amesbury and Merrimac will move to the Second Essex and Middlesex Senate District.
- Topsfield will move from the Second Essex Senate District to the First Essex and Middlesex Senate District.
- Newburyport will move from the First Essex Senate District to the First Essex and Middlesex Senate District.
House districts
- Existing House districts will be reconfigured to create 33 new majority-minority opportunity districts where less than 50% of the population is non-Hispanic white residents. Of these new districts, 10 will be majority-minority districts where over 50% of the voting population are either Black or Hispanic.
- The 16th and 17th Essex House districts will be reconfigured so that three majority-minority districts can be created in the Lawrence and Methuen area.
- The 4th Essex House District will be reconfigured to create a majority-minority district.
Congressional districts
- Fall River, currently split between the 4th and 9th Congressional districts, will instead be moved to the 4th Congressional District in its entirety.
- Chesterfield and Heath will move to the 2nd Congressional District.
- Parts of southern Worcester County will move from the 2nd to the 1st Congressional District.
- The 7th Congressional District will see an increase in the percentage of people of color living in the district: from roughly 57% to 61.3%.
Important contemporary and historical resources on redistricting:
Proposed changes for 2021: https://malegislature.gov/Redistricting/ProposedDistricts
Current districts as of 2011: https://malegislature.gov/Redistricting/CurrentDistricts
Archived public hearings: https://malegislature.gov/Events/Hearings
Historical Massachusetts district maps: https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/handle/2452/50067
Kaitlin Connolly
Reference Department
