Voters Are Ousting Longtime Incumbents. So Why Is No One Talking About Richard Neal?
Neal has been in office for nearly four decades — but in an under-the-radar primary, voters have to decide if the power he’s accumulated is enough to reelect him.
Veteran House Democrats are losing in primary challenges. Rep. Richard Neal doesn’t think he’ll be next. (Francis Chung/POLITICO/AP)
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Seven House Democrats have lost their seats to primary challengers this year. Rep. Richard Neal, the 77-year-old Massachusetts Democrat who was first elected in 1988, is not worried he will join them.
Neal has spent decades accumulating power, and, as the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, he has been able to run the party’s policy apparatus in the House. His campaign says he’s donated or fundraised $5.5 million for competitive races to help Democrats win back the majority in November. And he remains confident that his longstanding ties to voters and his seniority — which is ultimately power in Congress — will make his September primary here against Jeromie Whalen…