Contested congressional races focus on competitive terrain

The field is set for Massachusetts' congressional elections this fall, and five of the Commonwealth's nine members of the House of Representatives face no opposition in either their primary or general elections. This year returns to the trend of the State GOP not fielding candidates in many races, after two cycles where Republicans were on the ballot in the majority of districts.

If the GOP is choosing to focus its efforts, two of the districts it has chosen to contest are districts are where the party likely has the best shot, according to our competitiveness ranking of the state's Congressional districts. The two most competitive, according to the rankings, are the 6th district, where Richard Tisei and taking on John Tierney in a rematch of their 2012 campaign, and the 9th district, where four Republicans are vying to take on incumbent William Keating. As the chart below shows, these are the districts that appear to offer Republicans the best shot at a competitive race.