Tierney's Shot at Reelection to Congress Now a 'Toss-up'

It’s now a “toss-up.”

That’s according to the Cook Political Report in the race for the Sixth Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Incumbent John Tierney (D-Salem) is seeking reelection and faces two challengers - Seth Moulton of Marblehead and Marisa DeFranco of Middleton - in the Sept. 9 primary. The winner of the Democratic Party primary is expected to face Republican Richard Tisei of Wakefield, who Tierney narrowly defeated in 2012.

The Sixth District includes most of the North Shore, including Salem, Lynn, Peabody, Gloucester, Newburyport, Andover, Danvers, Hamilton, Wenham, Marblehead, Swampscott and North Andover. Tierney has represented the district since 1997.

The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisian publication that tracks all of the Congressional races, said the race had previously been “leaning” to Democrats.

The report said that Tierney “looks likely to survive” the primary “but he may enter the quick general election phase with less cash” than Tisei.

“On one hand, some local observers think voters have moved past Tierney’s wife’s legal troubles, but on the other, Tierney won’t have the Obama/Warren combination on top of the ballot to drive turnout this fall as he did in 2012,” the Cook Political Report wrote in its analysis of the race.