1980Final resultsIncumbent defeated
1980 election for Massachusetts Senate District D13
Massachusetts State Senate · Massachusetts
Edward L. Burke (D) won with 51.2% of the vote, defeating Jack H. Backman (D) by 2.4 points.
Edward L. BurkeDemocrat · winner · incumbent
51.2%46,054
Jack H. BackmanDemocrat · incumbent
48.8%43,925
89,983 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1980
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET