With less than two weeks before Election Day, incumbent Massachusetts Democrat Richard Neal and Independent challenger Nadia Milleron met for a brief debate as they vie for the 1st Congressional District seat.
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In a televised debate that lasted just under 30 minutes, Neal and Milleron faced off Wednesday as their 1st Congressional District rematch enters its final days.
Hosted by 22News/WWLP-TV, the incumbent, Neal, was quick to point to relatively recent legislation and federal funding targeting western Mass. that he advocated for or had a hand in during his time in Washington.
“This election is about who was delivered for this congressional district - whether it was reopening the North Adams [Regional] Hospital, whether it was north-south, east-west rail - whether it was $264 million for the new [Holyoke] Soldiers’ Home - I have delivered for this district repeatedly and traveled around it with great enthusiasm and excitement.”
Neal is closing in on 40 years of representing much of western Mass., having first been elected in 1988. His challenger is once again Milleron – an attorney living in Sheffield, Mass. whose platform ranges from supporting Medicare for All to re-envisioning the nation’s tax system.
“We can mobilize together to get no federal income tax on income under $100,000, insurance companies out of healthcare and manufacturing in our district - we will take 10,000 people to Washington: this is not going to be your usual situation,” Milleron said.
While far shorter compared to Senate and gubernatorial debates held on the other side of the state, Wednesday’s matchup also featured the incumbent and challenger confronting various claims their campaigns have lodged against each other.
Just as she did with WAMC’s Josh Landes earlier this month, Milleron confronted various attempts to tie her to the Trump administration, including a Neal campaign mailer tying her to supporting tariffs.
“I am not MAGA and I would vote to impeach Trump - it is outrageous to [say] that I am MAGA,” she said. “I do not support the way that Trump administers these tariffs - they have to be targeted. They cannot be in retribution against people and you have to have a system that is supported by labor in order to protect American jobs.”
Neal, meanwhile, disputed accusations of resisting or opposing various pieces of legislation Milleron has advocated for.
He also directly addressed claims that he had been dismissive or avoidant of Milleron in the years after her daughter was killed in a 2019 Boeing 737 Max jet crash in Ethiopia.
“The tragedy that Nadia mentioned - I was only too happy to meet with her and her husband. I was able to vote for the measure that she wanted - I organized, at her request, a hearing on that very issue and we all understand and sympathize with the tragedy that she and her family have experienced,” the congressman said.
Milleron has said her campaign is being partially funded by money awarded to her via a wrongful death lawsuit targeting Boeing. Previous reports have indicated she would spend as much as $2 million on her campaign.
Neal, meanwhile, has a considerable war chest himself – he has about $2.1 million in cash on-hand as of the end of September, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Neal previously bested Milleron in 2024 by nearly 90,000 votes -- winning re-election 62.4%-37.3%.
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Audio for this story was provided by 22News/WWLP-TV.
