Mike Capuano | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 7th district |
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Assumed office January 3, 2013 |
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Preceded by | Ed Markey |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 8th district |
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In office January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2013 |
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Preceded by | Joseph Kennedy (II) |
Succeeded by | Stephen F. Lynch |
33rd Mayor of Somerville | |
In office January 1, 1990 – January 3, 1999 |
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Preceded by | Eugene Brune |
Succeeded by | William Roche (Acting) |
Personal details | |
Born |
Michael Everett Capuano January 9, 1952 Somerville, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Barbara Teebagy |
Children | 2 |
Relatives |
Chris Evans (nephew) Scott Evans (nephew) |
Alma mater |
Dartmouth College Boston College |
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Website | House website |
Committee assignments |
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113th Congress (2013–15) |
Michael Everett "Mike" Capuano (/ˌkæpjuːˈɑːnoʊ/; born January 9, 1952) is an American politician who serves as the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts's 7th congressional district. A member of the Democratic Party, his district includes the majority of Boston, as well as parts of Cambridge and other communities immediately north and south of Boston. Prior to being elected to Congress he served as an Alderman and later Mayor of Somerville.
He was born and raised in Somerville, and after graduating from Dartmouth College and Boston College Law School, he worked as an attorney and Somerville alderman. After losing two elections for Mayor in 1979 and 1981, he went to work as legal counsel for the Massachusetts General Court. He ran for a Mayor a third time in 1989 and won, serving from 1990 to 1999.
In 1998 he navigated a crowded Democratic primary to replace Joseph Kennedy II in Congress and has since been re-elected six times. He represented the state's 8th district until it was redrawn in 2013 into the 7th district. In Congress he is a staunch liberal and member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He ran in the 2010 special election to fill the seat in the United States Senate made vacant by the death of Ted Kennedy, his predecessor's uncle, but lost the primary to Martha Coakley, who in turn lost the general election to Republican Scott Brown.