The 1st District candidate clad in a patch covered brown leather jacket, told WAMC he's been listening to a lot of Rage Against The Machine this year.
"As a 38-year-old, when Rage first hit the scene, I was a teenager, and there was a level of angst there that was kind of rising against all those things we're seeing that come around again. It's coming back around again, doo-doo, this is for the people of the sun," sang Whalen. "So, it's got to be continuing. It's just the hype up energy. That's what we bring to the table, that's the dynamic that we have as a campaign. So we're going to continue to listen to Rage, and maybe a little System Of A Down too."
Whalen, as many of Neal's challengers have before him, has been highly critical of the longtime House member for his acceptance of corporate money. Neal led all of Congress in corporate campaign funding while chairing the House Ways and Means Committee, the body tasked with shaping the federal tax code for those very corporations.
"My opponent has over $5 million in his war chest, and I walked 43 miles for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts to raise $900,000," said Whalen. "He has five times the amount of money in his corporate war chest than what we raised for a state that has 40% of residents have some shade of food insecurity here. In Hampden County, his hometown, turf and district, that is the district that is hurt the most. And so, we really, as much as it is a difference of candidate, ideology, and platform, it's also a referendum on corporate campaign finance. And I really want people to understand that we need to what I say is kill the parasite, starve the beast."
Whalen ran through his opponent's scandals involving corporate influence, including a 2024 exposé by Politico exploring Neal's son Brendan’s career as a lobbyist for corporations like Blackstone, one of his father's top donors.
"His own son lobbies before the House Ways and Means Committee, and gets paid thousands of dollars a month from his campaign," said the candidate. "He also presided over a birthday party for AIG insurance in 2019 in the House Ways and Means chambers. And so, what I tell people is, would he come to your birthday and blow out your candles?"
A Neal spokesperson responded to the Politico article by claiming Neal did not know his son was employed by firms lobbying his committee, and that he does not discuss business with him. In regards to the AIG party, Neal's reps said in 2019 he was not the host for the celebration of the insurance company who was bailed out by federal tax dollars after contributing to the 2008 financial crisis.
Whalen, a former high school teacher from Belchertown, says one of his signature platform issues highlights the disparity between Neal's corporate backing and kitchen table issues in Massachusetts: supporting Medicare For All.
"The healthcare system in this country is broken," Whalen told WAMC. "We're seeing 20% to 40% increases in healthcare costs across the board in our district, and we really need to get corporate greed out of the equation. I can say that the current congressman takes hundreds of thousands of dollars from healthcare lobbyists and pharmaceutical companies to not say that and to ensure that the status quo remains. We're here to say we can do better and we can lower the rates for all those involved that are really hurting on their budgets right now."
Asked to highlight a Berkshire County issue that he'd work to rectify through Congress, Whalen turned to the need for rural school funding.
"I'm a big proponent of the Pay Teachers Act and Pay Paraprofessionals and Educators Act. Why? Because that is federal funding that alleviates municipal budgets that are breaking left and right," he said. "And so, we need to be investing our money back into our municipalities, rather than spending it wastefully on war and destruction, and so we're in tune with that, and we're going to continue to advocate for educational support and funding, especially within our rural school districts."
Should he best Neal in the September 1st primary, Whalen would then face Independent candidate Nadia Milleron of Sheffield, an anti-corporate activist who says her second bid for Congress is part of a nationwide effort to end two-party rule.
"I think that we're both fighting for a more equal and just world," said Whalen. "I think we're fighting for the things and opportunities that our generations have and are not afforded to younger generations, and the idea that she's out there fighting, I can get behind that. I think that we're doing things a little differently. I am trying to change the party, the Democratic Party, from within. And I've always been a Democratic voter, and I think that there's opportunity to seize this moment and really take the party in a new direction."
In a statement to WAMC, the Neal campaign denied that his son had ever lobbied either his office or his Ways and Means Committee, and said the congressman’s values have been expressed through tax credits for both families with children and green energy, as well as efforts to expand manufacturing and increase taxes on the ultra-wealthy.
