Did The Western Suburbs Cost Capuano The Election?

When Rep. Michael Capuano won the 8th congressional district in 1998, he did it by having a huge base of support in Somerville, where he was mayor, and by coming in second in the other parts of the district: Boston, Cambridge and Chelsea.

This time, the same thing almost happened for Capuano. He took the four cities in his congressional district: Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and Chelsea.

And he came in second in almost every other of the state's congressional districts: the suburbs just north of Boston, the North Shore, the Merrimack Valley, the South Shore, central Massachusetts, the Springfield area and Western Massachusetts.

But Alan Khazei foiled Capuano's plans in the Western suburbs. Khazei came in second in Brookline, Newton, Needham, Wellesley, Weston, Lincoln, Concord, Dover and Sherborn.