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5th District Election Today

Voters in the 5th Congressional district go to the polls today. They will choose a successor to Marty Meehan, who stepped down this summer to become chancellor of UMass Lowell.

Five candidates are in the race. Democrat Niki Tsongas hopes to become the first woman from Massachusetts to go to Congress since 1982. Jim Ogonowski hopes to become the first Republican elected to Congress from Massachusetts in 11 years. The Constitution Party's Kevin Thompson and independents Kurt Hayes and Patrick Murphy are also running. Murphy hopes to show that it's possible to win an election by refusing campaign contributions.

Turnout in special elections, such as this one, is typically low. The three communities to watch today are Lowell, Haverhill, and Chelmsford because they vote in the greatest numbers.

This program aired on October 16, 2007. The audio for this program is not available.

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