Born and raised in Worcester, McGovern attended Worcester Academy. While in college he worked as a congressional intern and then aide to U.S. Senator George McGovern (to whom he had no relation), a two-time presidential candidate for whom he campaigned. From 1981 to 1996 he was a senior staff member for U.S. Representative Joe Moakley. McGovern first ran for Congress in 1994, where he lost in the Democratic primary. He ran again in 1996, defeating Republican incumbent Peter Blute. He has been reelected every two years since then without serious difficulty.