Though Beacon Hill faced a minor dust-up this week over House Speaker Tom Finneran’s redistricting plan, which initially proposed pitting State Representatives Kay Kahn and Ruth Balser of Newton against each other, the current chaos is nothing like the redistricting scrapes that took place more than two decades ago. Back then, state reps weathered three distinct redistrictings in less than 10 years.

John Finnegan, formerly a state representative from Dorchester, remembers them as particularly difficult days. "I’m one of three members in the history of the House that was elected in a single, a double, and a triple district," he says. Finnegan was first elected in 1966, when Boston’s Ward 16 had two representatives (a double district). In 1970 Wards 16 and 17 — with two representatives each — were combined, but the area lost a representative (making it a triple district). Then, in 1973, state law changed, prohibiting double and triple districts. Finally, in what was the most crushing blow, in 1978 the size of the House was reduced from 240 members to 160. "When you ran for the House from Dorchester in those days, it was always brutal anyway," he says. "You had several strong and capable candidates always running." By the time Finnegan left, his district stretched all the way to Andrew Square.

The House didn’t do its own redistricting until 1972; before that it was always done by county commissioners. So when the size of the House was reduced in 1978, things were particularly bad for state representatives. "Many members were pitted against each other," recalls one House veteran of that era. The community of Danvers became so enraged when redistricting cut it in half that 500 of the town’s residents, including an armed contingent clad in Colonial-era militia garb, stormed Beacon Hill. Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket lost their individual seats in the House, giving rise to a secessionist frenzy that involved the governors of both Maine and New York.

It wasn’t all bad for the state representatives, however. A few lucky ones received other jobs in state and local government that helped soften the blow of redistricting. Norman Weinberg of Brighton, for example, became a state judge, leaving representation of his district to a young man named William Galvin.

Issue Date: October 25 - November 1, 2001