by Stephen Lynch. Under the plan, nearly all of Keating's base in the South Shore was drawn into Lynch's South Boston-based district. Most of the southern portion of Keating's old district, including his summer home in Bourne on Cape Cod, was combined with territory centered on the South Coast cities of New Bedford and Fall River to create the new 9th district. Rather than challenge Lynch in the Democratic primary, Keating chose to run in the 9th, claiming his summer home as his residence in the district. Keating defeated Bristol County District Attorney Samuel Sutter in the September 6 Democratic primary, and in November 2012 defeated Republican nominee Christopher Sheldon to win a second term. Tenure Keating is considered a liberal by national standards. In 2012, the National Journal ranked him as "the 84th most liberal member of the House", but second only to Lynch as the most conservative of Massachusetts's House delegation. In February 2017, the National Republican Congressional Committee named Keating as one of 36 top Democratic targets in the 2018 elections. Republicans hoped to gain seats in the election in blue-collar parts of the country. Keating is a member of the New Democrat Coalition, the House Baltic Caucus, the Congressional Arts Caucus and the U.S.–Japan Caucus. Economic issues and budget Issues specific to his South Coast and Cape Cod–based district, such as maritime policy, have been a major focus of Keating's work. In June 2012, he organized the Federal Fishing Advisory Board, a body to research and address fisheries management concerns between lawmakers and industry stakeholders. Also in 2012, he and other Massachusetts representatives pushed the Commerce Department to issue a federal disaster declaration for fisheries in the northeastern U.S., which would open up the opportunity for financial aid. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Keating proposed to redirect $111 million of relief funding to fisheries throughout the country, but the House Rules Committee did not adopt the proposal. When the Nuclear Regulatory Commission considered a 20-year contract extension for the Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station in Plymouth in mid-2012, Keating repeatedly took to the press. He at first declined to take a position on the plant's reauthorization, saying, "I wouldn't be the right person to ask, and that's why we have regulatory authorities and people with expertise to deal with that." When the commission voted to renew the license, Keating joined other Massachusetts politicians in deriding the