SPRINGFIELD — U.S. Rep. Richie Neal, and his party, are champions again.
The Springfield Democrat won election to serve the 1st Congressional District for a 20th term on Tuesday, overcoming Independent Nadia Milleron for the seat a second time.
By 10:30 p.m., 24% of ballots had been counted. Those results showed Neal winning 68%, or 52,037 votes. Milleron had 31%, or 24,356 votes.
As Neal made his way into Nathan Bill’s Irish Bar & Restaurant in Springfield, Queen’s “We Are the Champions” blasted through the air. Neal then laid out an energetic agenda going ahead as his party also won big in the midterm elections, regaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
“I’ve been part of big minorities, and I’ve been part of small minorities, and I must tell you, a big majority is to be preferred,” said Neal, celebrating Democratic wins throughout the country. He believes his party is on trajectory to succeed for years and decades to come.
Neal’s victory and that of his party pave the way for him to lead the Ways and Means Committee, the prestigious chief tax-writing committee in the House.
Neal decried the condition of politics over the past couple of years.
He listed massive cuts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and raids on immigrants by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He also said the combination of the war in Iran and imposing tariffs by the Trump administration has together caused costs to skyrocket.
With political leverage back for the Democrats, Neal laid out his agenda to counteract these moves by Trump and the Republican majority of the past two years.
“We’re going to fight to restore funding for Medicaid,” Neal said in his victory speech. “We’re going to fight to restore SNAP. We’re going to rein in this reckless war in Iran. We’re going to hold ICE accountable, and I want to give you a bedrock guarantee: We’re going to make sure Social Security is there for all of you.”
The Associated Press called the race at 9:38 p.m. By Wednesday morning, 85% of votes had been counted, with Neal receiving 156,392 and Milleron garnering 83,232.
In Franklin County, the 1st Congressional District includes the towns of Charlemont, Rowe, Monroe and Hawley. Neal claimed victory in all four.
Thirty-five voters cast their ballots for Neal in Monroe, compared to 21 for Milleron. In neighboring Rowe, Neal received 108 votes to Milleron’s 85. Charlemont voters likewise favored Neal, with 386 votes compared to Milleron’s 181, and Hawley saw 98 votes for Neal, besting Milleron, who received 53.
Neal was welcomed with cheers from the hundred or so supporters gathered at the bar. He emphasized that he won some three-quarters of the vote in his hometown of Springfield.
He touted his record of service for his district, specifically highlighting $263.5 million in federal funding he garnered for the new Veterans Home in Holyoke.
Milleron was down the street and received the news of her defeat in her campaign headquarters. She believes Neal, who has held the office for 38 years, bought the election and rigged it with falsehoods.
“This election was distorted by millions of dollars, which painted the picture of me that was false,” Milleron said after the news of her loss was announced. “These millions of dollars and the falsehoods on television and with the mailers bought the election and destroyed democracy.”
Neal has made claims that Milleron is MAGA-aligned since her husband works in the Trump administration, among other claims.
In a campaign newsletter conceding the race to Neal early Wednesday morning, Milleron reflected on having built “a powerful movement centered on lowering the cost of living, championing healthcare for all, rebuilding local manufacturing and demanding transparent, full-time representation.”
“I want to thank everybody for your tremendous work. And I respect all of you, and I thank all of you. And it’s really, really important to me what each person has done, what each person has made,” Milleron said in the newsletter. “This is an exhausting process and I will do anything possible not to let down people who did vote for me, people who do understand what the reality is. We need to make sure and be in touch with all those people, and mobilize and work together to get what we need.”
