Richard Neal

These two political candidates from different parties agree on one issue: how to script a campaign video, or at least parts of it.

State Rep. Nicholas Boldyga, R-Agawam, recently released a 30-second campaign video that takes multiple sentences straight from a prior ad from U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield. Both politicians are running for reelection in November.

Neal’s video first ran on TV in July and on social media afterward.

“A trip to the grocery store costs more than it used to,” Neal says to the camera. “So does filling a prescription. I’m Richie Neal, and I know the middle class needs help.”

Boldyga’s video starts word-for-word exactly the same, except for swapping in his name.

Neal’s video then goes on to call out Trump’s tax cut for the richest Americans. Boldyga takes aim at Gov. Maura Healey, blaming her for the high cost of living, including utilities.

“I’m taking on Trump,” Neal says, adding that he will invest in communities and end tariffs that are pushing up the cost of living. “I’d be honored to earn your vote, because I’m not done fighting.”

“I’m taking on Beacon Hill politicians,” Boldyga says, mirroring Neal’s video, before mentioning his support for an audit of the Legislature. “I’d be honored to earn your vote, because I’m not done fighting,” he says.

“My ad is a parody,” Boldyga said on Monday. He was pointing out the “hypocrisy,” he said, that Democrats are blaming Trump for driving up the cost of living, when he says Democrats, who control the State House, are to blame for high costs in the commonwealth.

When The Republican asked what Boldyga was doing or could do to lower the cost of living in the state, he reiterated his point that the video was a parody and hung up. He called from a blocked number and did not respond to a follow-up email.

Neal’s campaign manager, Peter Panos, said Trump’s tariffs are pushing costs up for Americans. It’s not surprising that conservative candidates like Boldyga “are resorting to lies or plagiarism to avoid accountability,” Panos wrote in a statement.

Thomas Hendrickson, an Agawam city councilor who is running as a Democrat against Boldyga, took to social media to point out the similarities between the videos. He called it a “blatant example of plagiarism.”

For it to be a parody, the Neal video would need to be more widely known, he said.

“I don’t see how this is supposed to be a parody,” he said.