Robert Burke

According to his campaign website, Burke was born in 1956 at St. Margaret's Hospital in Boston, grew up in Milton and graduated from Milton High School in 1974; Ballotpedia also lists Boston as his birthplace.[2][1] He says he attended St. Anselm and then went to England in 1978.[2] His campaign website says he worked in telecommunications during the Bell breakup in Boston, Long Island and California, lived in Annapolis, Maryland, where he started a business called All American Cleaning, and returned to Boston in 1985.[2] He says he retired on injury and now lives in Dedham.[2]

In retirement, Burke says, he took up videography, covering sports for high schools, prep schools and colleges, and in 2015 he began delivering packages in Boston.[2][1] He was the Republican nominee for this seat in 2022, receiving 30.1% of the vote to Lynch's 69.7%, and again in 2024, receiving 29.4% to Lynch's 70.4%.[1] Burke won the Republican primary on September 1, 2026, with 99.0% of the vote (20,362 votes; the remainder were write-ins).[5] His campaign website described him as an "American Citizens First" candidate, listed positions on voter ID, immigration, jobs, public safety, healthcare and the criminal-justice system, and said he would serve one term.[2][5] He received 26.8% of the vote to Stephen Lynch's 69.4%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[3]