The Democratic candidates for the 1st Massachusetts House district seat are taking part in a broadcast debate tonight in a primary that has been rocked by controversy this month.
The debate will be heard on WAMC at 7.
With just two weeks left before primary day, the race between 16-term incumbent Richard Neal and challenger Alex Morse – the progressive young mayor of Holyoke, Massachusetts – has gotten personal.
Allegations of misconduct concerning Morse’s consensual relationships with adult college students emerged earlier this month. Morse, who taught at UMass Amherst for several years through the fall of 2019, acknowledged showing poor judgment.
Soon after, reports emerged of an orchestrated effort to undercut Morse’s campaign. An article published by The Intercept alleges that state party leaders were involved in the process.
Speaking just before recording the debate, both candidates said it’s time to get back to the issues.
“People are sick and tired of the same old way of doing things – of dirty tricks, of the politics of personal destruction," said Morse, who pushed back against the allegations in an exclusive WAMC interview last week. “This is exactly why people turn away from politics, why people don’t participate, why many people would never think about running for office – the fact that candidates like me have to talk about our personal life rather than the policies that will uplift people here in the district. I mean, this was supporters of Congressman Neal, three weeks before a primary, with an coordinated smear against our campaign with the intentional purpose of diminishing our campaign – but in fact it’s done the opposite.”
Morse, 31, says his campaign had its best fundraising week yet after the allegations surfaced. As of July, Neal outraised Morse $3.3 million to $840,000.
“I want to bring the people of the district to Washington with me, and use that power to fight for a healthcare system that believes healthcare is a human right, fight against a crisis of climate change, fight for an economy that works for everyone from Holyoke to the Berkshires to the hill towns, and fight for a just and reformed criminal justice system," said Morse. "Congressman Neal has been pushing the same, tired ideas that have led to a status quo that is leaving thousands of working people behind here in Western Mass – and I look forward to debating him tonight on these issues.”
“I’m very happy to compare and contrast the record I’ve had in Congress with the record that Alex Morse has had as mayor of Holyoke," said Neal. "And I think that my prospects are improved by the fact that I actually show up for work, I think that’s an important consideration.”
Neal, a former Springfield mayor, first went to Congress in 1989 and chairs the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.
“So I hope that we’ll have a change tonight to debate the situation with Holyoke’s public schools," he told WAMC. "I hope we’ll have a chance to talk about the pandemic and the CARES Act that Alex Morse said he would have voted against.”
Neal, 71, declined to comment about the claims of his involvement in the Morse allegations. A spokesperson offered a statement from Neal denying any connection to the initial letter about misconduct released by the UMass chapter of the College Democrats of America.
Morse has criticized Neal for his prodigious corporate campaign fundraising, connecting his vote against a healthcare bill amendment that would have strengthened drug pricing laws to the donations from the pharmaceutical industry. Neal pushed back.
“I’m very proud of the fact that I’ve raised almost $13 million that has supported almost every member of the Black caucus, the Hispanic caucus, the Equality caucus, and built a durable Democratic majority in the House of Representatives," said Neal. "I think the corresponding question that needs to be asked is Mayor Morse taking money from business interests in the city of Holyoke. He granted them tax breaks and granted them contracts based upon the contributions that they made. So I don’t have any difficulty with scrutiny, but I also think that he needs to explain what he did what he did while I’ve built a majority in the House working hand in glove with Speaker Pelosi to bring the Democrats to that majority – and we’ve passed a lot of progressive legislation based on having that majority.”
