Michael Everett Capuano (/ˌkæpjuˈɑːnoʊ/ KAP-ew-AH-noh; born January 9, 1952) is an American politician and attorney who served as a U.S. Representative of Massachusetts from 1999 to 2019.

In 1998 Capuano won a crowded Democratic primary to replace Joseph Kennedy II in Congress and was re-elected nine times.

[1] 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 Congressional predecessor's uncle, but lost the primary to Martha Coakley, who in turn lost the general election to Republican Scott Brown.

[15][16] One of his priorities was to lower the city's population density, which at the time was the highest of any New England municipality, by using state grants to demolish several buildings and replace them with playgrounds and parking spaces.

Senator from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey, nor was he endorsed by Representatives Seth Moulton and Niki Tsongas.

Capuano did receive the support of the majority of the Massachusetts federal delegation, including Representatives William Keating, Katherine Clark, James McGovern, Joseph Kennedy III, Stephen Lynch, and Richard Neal.

"[20] In its editorial endorsement of Pressley, the Boston Globe noted that the state Legislature had drawn the 7th district to favor minority candidates.

In 2012 a fundraiser hosted by Pope John XXIII High School where Capuano and fellow Massachusetts Congressman Ed Markey were to receive awards was cancelled due to their "positions [being] inconsistent with church doctrine;" both were humble in response to the news.

"[33] After the 2006 election that created a Democratic majority in the House, he was appointed Chairman of the Speaker's Task Force on Ethics Enforcement by Nancy Pelosi, with whom he has a close relationship.

Following criticism, especially when such a statement was made just days after the attempted assassination of Gabby Giffords, Capuano expressed regret for his "choice of words.

"[36] Following the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent bank bailouts, at a House Financial Services Committee hearing Capuano berated the bank CEOs for their practices, saying at one point: "You come to us today on your bicycles after buying Girl Scout cookies and helping out Mother Teresa and telling us, 'We're sorry, we didn't mean it, we won't do it again, trust us.'

"[38] A self-described "fiscal conservative" who opposed the Bush-era tax cuts that provided tax reductions for the wealthy because they "created a deficit for no good reason,"[39] in 2013 Capuano joined Senator Elizabeth Warren and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino in a rally against the then-upcoming sequester, with Capuano calling it "stupid.

[43] Capuano ran for Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth in the 1994 election, running against former State Representatives Augusto Grace and William F. Galvin for the Democratic nomination.

During the race he framed himself as an advocate for the poor and urban communities, and criticized aid formulas which he argued left less-wealthy municipalities with less per-capita revenue.

In what the Boston Globe deemed "an embarrassing defeat," he failed to obtain the necessary delegate votes to be nominated to participate in the primary election, with only 13%.

"[46] In his campaign Capuano received several high-profile endorsements, including House Speaker Pelosi and former Massachusetts Governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, Michael Dukakis.

[49] On January 21, 2013, former mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts, and member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council Michael Albano endorsed Capuano to run, posting on his Facebook page: "while the Congressman has not made a decision to compete for the [Democratic] nomination [for Governor] at this time, it is not too early to make the case and encourage his candidacy.

"[50] When asked in February 2013 whether he might run for governor, Capuano responded: "Part of me thinks that some of the more interesting, more important fights over the next several years might be conducted at statehouses around the country and not necessarily on Capitol Hill.