With Donald Trump as president, national politics feel hopeless. That’s what was on my mind as I was planning a presentation on current affairs for my job at a local retirement home. Trump recently initiated a $2 billion slush fund for his supporters. He sent his son-in-law — worth $500 million — to Iran to negotiate an end to the war. The dubious crypto currency Trump launched as he was elected president eclipsed over $1 billion in earnings.
I opted to speak about local politics instead.
The sense of positivity that usually accompanies such discussions could not be felt that day. I was presenting on Richard Neal, who is running for his 20th term representing Massachusetts’s 1st Congressional District and who is practically a neighbor.
I led with a fact that surprised the residents: Neal receives among the highest percentage of PAC money, Democrat or Republican, in Congress. Furthermore, a 2024 report found that Neal funnels $4,000 each month to a consulting agency owned by his son, Brendan Neal Strategies. Most damning of all: Hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to that same agency originate from companies with stakes in the decisions Representative Neal makes as the Democratic chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. Neal’s son is paid by his father and by the decisions his father makes.
The 30-minute presentation was filled with groans. “I’ve never felt so inspired to get involved in local politics,” one 80-year-old resident said. She asked what opportunities there might be to canvas. The residents left the presentation desperate for change.
They were committed to ousting a politician who applauded ICE in 2025, a politician vehemently backed by greedy corporations, a politician who curries favor for his mega donors and son. These are charges normally leveled toward President Trump. In the retirement home that day, they targeted Richard Neal.
Richard Neal can be defeated by the progressive, grassroots candidate Jeromie Whalen in the Democratic primary in less than two months. Jeromie Whalen does not accept PAC money, does not support ICE, nor will he betray his working-class base for millionaire donors.
Noah Daube-Valois
Northampton