Northampton teacher Jeromie Whalen challenges Richard Neal for Congress

Jeromie Whalen, a 39-year-old Northampton High School teacher, is challenging U.S. Rep. Richard Neal in a race that could test whether progressive insurgent campaigns can succeed in Massachusetts's 1st Congressional District. Whalen is running a grass-roots campaign across the district's 83 cities and towns, calling for Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and ending weapons sales to Israel, while Neal, a centrist Democrat seeking his 20th term, leans on decades of seniority and influence as a top House member.

The race pits Whalen's ground game and anti-corporate message against Neal's record of legislative accomplishments and access to substantial corporate funding. Neal has become one of the largest recipients of corporate PAC money in Congress, drawing nearly three-quarters of his $3.2 million in the last cycle from business PACs. If Democrats regain the House majority in November, Neal is positioned to chair the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.

Whalen has criticized Neal for his absence from the district, noting that the congressman has not held an in-person town hall in nearly a decade. "We've normalized a do-nothing Congress and the corporatization of this entire American system," Whalen said during a debate Wednesday, the only public forum Neal agreed to before Election Day. "And who's the poster child of that? It's our current absentee congressman."

Neal has defended his record and rejected claims that corporate donations influence his positions. He said at the debate, "They buy in or they accept my agenda. I don't buy in and accept their agenda." He highlighted his role in securing federal funding for the district, including COVID stimulus money and support for a west-east railroad project, and his defense of Social Security and pension benefits.

During the debate, Neal compared experience in politics to medicine: "If you were to have brain surgery, would you have the doctor who just got out of medical school, or would you have a seasoned surgeon?" His campaign declined to make him available for additional interviews.

Neal's largest corporate PAC contributors this cycle come from finance, insurance, and real estate sectors, according to OpenSecrets, including maximum contributions from JPMorgan Chase and the for-profit health insurer Humana. Another 22 percent of his PAC money comes from the health industry, including medical device makers and pharmaceutical companies.

Whalen, a Belchertown native, said he is not a democratic socialist and has expressed interest in working across the aisle with Republicans. His campaign strategy relies on the kind of personal outreach that has driven other progressive victories nationwide this year, though no Democrat has successfully challenged Neal since his election to Congress in 1989.