Richard Neal Defeats 39-Year-Old Progressive Challenger in Massachusetts Primary, Preserving 1st District Seat
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 2
Richard Neal Defeats 39-Year-Old Progressive Challenger in Massachusetts Primary, Preserving 1st District Seat
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 2
Summary
Rep. Richard Neal, 77, beat high school teacher Jeromie Whalen, 39, in Tuesday’s Democratic primary in Massachusetts’ 1st District, fending off a progressive bid to unseat one of the party’s most senior House members.
The race turned on a choice between Neal’s nearly four decades of seniority and Whalen’s call for generational and ideological change, backed by proposals including Medicare for All, higher taxes on the wealthy and abolishing ICE.
Neal argued his clout as top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee gives western Massachusetts influence in tax and economic fights that a first-term lawmaker could not quickly match.
The result is another setback for progressives trying to dislodge entrenched Democrats and keeps in place a veteran lawmaker with no Republican currently filed against him for the general election.