Peter G. Torkildsen Peter Gerard Torkildsen was born Roman Catholic in a family with 10 children in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on January 28, 1958. Torkildsen served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1985 to 1991. He then went on to represent Massachusetts' 6th Congressional District as a Republican from 1993 until 1997.
He was narrowly defeated in the Presidential-year elections of 1996 by Democrat John F. Tierney in a state that voted overwhelmingly for Democratic President Bill Clinton in that year's Presidential election.
Tierney was part of a net two-seat Democratic gain in the House elections that year. Torkildsen challenged Tierney to a rematch in the United States House election, 1998, but Tierney won that contest as well. Torkildsen is rumored to be considering another attempt at reclaiming his seat in 2006.
