Former member of Congress · last served 102nd Congress

Joseph D. Early

DEMOCRAT U.S. Representative · MassachusettsHouse 1975–1993 (MA-3)

Joseph Early was a Democratic U.S. representative from Massachusetts, first elected to Congress in 1975.

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4Bills & resolutions sponsored100th–102nd Congress (excludes amendments)

0Passed a chamberof 4 bills & resolutions sponsored

0Became law100th–102nd Congress

—Broke with partyNo roll calls in PORKER’s records (they start in 2011)

—Missed votesNo roll calls in PORKER’s records (they start in 2011)

—Pork: own shareFY2024 earmarks: not in office

How we count: “Broke with party” is a yes/no roll call where the member voted against most of their own party on that vote (party as recorded; even splits not counted). “Pork: own share” splits each earmark shared by several members evenly among them.

Recent votes

No recorded roll-call votes in PORKER’s records. Roll-call records start in 2011.

5 most recent bills

H.R. 4620 Fair Disclosure in Takeovers Act of 1990
May 4, 1990 · Referred to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance.
H.R. 4135 To provide an additional district judgeship for the District of Massachusetts.
Mar 5, 1990 · Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic and Commercial Law.
H.R. 2982 United States Flag Protection Act
Oct 12, 1989 · See H.R.2978.
H.R. 1714 A bill for the relief of Kil Joon Yu Callahan.
Mar 30, 1987 · Referred to Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and International Law.

Elections Rep. Early has won

Rep. Early has won 8 U.S. House elections (1976–1990). Of the contested races, margins ran from 34.8 to 50.5 points.

Democratic winRepublican winseat changed partyunopposed

Elections won8 in the data (1976–2024); losses are not listed

Closest win: 34.8 points1984, MA-3

Won an open seat or took one from the other party0 of 8 elections (open seat or changed party)

Seat history, Massachusetts’s 3rd districtWinners, most recent three: James P. McGovern (D) 1996–2010 → Niki Tsongas (D) 2012–2016 → Lori Trahan (D) 2018–2024. Elections shown, not terms; special elections not included.

Full election history for this seat →

Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. House V15 / U.S. Senate V8 (CC0), retrieved 2026-10-18; winners matched to member records by seat and term. Results run through the 2024 elections; nothing from 2026 is shown until it is certified. A margin is a fact about one election, never a score of how well a member represents anyone, and PORKER does not rank members by it.

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Data as of Oct 26, 2026 · Sources: Congress.gov, Senate.gov, House Clerk, Appropriations Committee earmark tables. PORKER is non-partisan.