Richard Neal

SPRINGFIELD — Candidate for Congress Nadia Milleron is back on the campaign trail, running a second time for the 1st District seat held by U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal.

This time, Milleron is linking with other independent candidates for Congress who see opportunity in a divided electorate frustrated with both parties.

“We are coming from all over the map in terms of our political beliefs,” Milleron said in an interview after announcing campaign events in Pittsfield, Easthampton and Springfield. “But we believe in process.”

She’s the only member of the Independent Candidate Network running in Massachusetts this election cycle.

Milleron, who lives in Sheffield, is an air safety advocate who has spoken out against Boeing, the airline manufacturer, since her daughter’s death in 2019. Her daughter, Samya Stumo, died when a Boeing jet she was aboard crashed on its way to Kenya. Investigators found one cause was a defective automatic flight control system. The crash, which killed 157 people, grounded the Boeing Max jets.

A conference in Washington, D.C., last week drew 12 independent candidates for Congress from all over the country. All told, 30 candidates are part of the network.

“It looks like between five and 15 have a chance of winning,” she said.

That would be more than enough, if it happens, to deny Republicans or Democrats the majority. The narrow majority in the U.S. House is now 219 Republicans to 213 Democrats, with three seats vacant.

With a few independent members, Milleron said she and others would withhold votes for speaker and seek to force changes in House procedures. Changes would include mandating that bills be focused on one subject, she said, with no more tucking things into popular transportation or defense spending.

“It’s really important about accountability,” she said. “Boeing hides safety exemptions in those bills.”

Milleron got more than 133,000 votes in a losing effort against Neal two years ago. Neal outpolled her by about a 2-1 margin.

Neal, in Congress since 1989, also faces challenger Jeromie Whalen in the coming Democratic primary in September.

Milleron and another independent candidate, Bruce A. Hunt Jr. of Wilbraham, plan to challenge Neal in November’s general election.

Milleron’s campaign events include: