On Tuesday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) responded to complaints from Republicans that Massachusetts has nine Democratic representatives despite the state voting about one-third Republican in the last presidential election by saying that “we have a system that’s run by the state legislature. They try to make sure that there’s comparability between the districts. Some of these districts in the western part of the state are very rural. They try to cluster those because they have similar economies and similar interests. So, we’re not hearing complaints from here in Massachusetts in terms of that whole process.” And “I think the people of Massachusetts are responding to ideas.”
Co-host John Berman asked, “Congressman, we speak to a lot of Republicans on this show. I had one on just the other day from South Carolina, talking about redistricting there and these efforts to redistrict mid-decade. And one of the things they point to, they say, hey, we may be getting rid of a Democratic seat here, but look at Massachusetts. They have nine congressional districts, all Democrats. Donald Trump got about 36% of the vote in Massachusetts in 2024. Why is it fair for Massachusetts to have nine seats of one party and us not to have that? What’s your response?”
Lynch answered, “Well, look, we have a system that’s run by the state legislature. They try to make sure that there’s comparability between the districts. Some of these districts in the western part of the state are very rural. They try to cluster those because they have similar economies and similar interests. So, we’re not hearing complaints from here in Massachusetts in terms of that whole process. It’s only become recently when this whole midterm — or mid-decade redistricting has actually arisen. There [are] a lot of Democrats and Independents here in Massachusetts, and they — it’s a very blue state, but it’s not by carving things up. I have five or six towns in my district. It’s one of the more moderate districts that voted for Trump over Kamala Harris. That’s the way it goes. There’s just not enough — there’s some down the Cape, they’re all split up, some of these communities, some of them very affluent, others are not. So, it’s a matter of geography, not of carving people up in terms of trying to get Republican representation. I think the people of Massachusetts are responding to ideas. And, lately, in Massachusetts, the Republican Party has not had good ideas, they’ve been a disaster here. So, it’s [understandable] that they would not have representation in Congress, based on that, based on what they offer to the people of Massachusetts.”
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