U.S. Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, the powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, held off Democratic challenger Alex Morse in Tuesday’s primary.
The 71-year-old Neal defeated 31-year-old Morse after an acrimonious campaign that included allegations of sexual misconduct leveled at his younger opponent. Neal is the longest-serving member of Massachusetts’ all-Democratic congressional delegation.
The Associated Press made the call just before 10 p.m. Tuesday.
Morse was seen as a political rising star after becoming one of the state’s youngest and only openly gay mayors when he was elected chief executive of Holyoke in 2011 at age 22. Neal will run unopposed in the November general election after Republicans failed to field a candidate.
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