Neal/Martilli race didn’t draw same voters as 2020Date: 11/18/2022 WESTERN MASS. – West Springfield businessman Dean Martilli received 38.6 percent of the vote in his effort to oust Congressman Richard Neal, not enough to gain the seat, but enough to indicate the divided sentiment of voters on the 1st Congressional District.
Martilli posted a thank you on his Facebook page on Nov. 12. It read, “After a few days to take the time to personally thank so many people and to wind down from the campaign, I want to give a huge thank you for: All of our hardworking campaign team; all of the over 95,000 electorates of the 1st Congressional District that voted for change and Dean Martilli; all who retrieved signatures for our nomination papers; All registered voters that signed or nomination papers; all who went door to door to deliver campaign literature; all that held signs at coordinated standouts; all financial donors to the campaign; all advisors on campaign issues; all that displayed yard signs; all that prayed for our success; all media outlets that displayed fair and accurate reporting; and Rob Parent, campaign manager who put numerous hours and sacrifices into our campaign for change. I appreciate all of you from the bottom of my heart. Never quit!”
With 97 percent of the votes counted Neal received 153.402 versus Martilli’s 96,499. Neal received 61.4 percent of the vote in race that saw him do relatively little campaigning, especially in comparison to his last contest in 2020 with fellow Democrat Alex Morse, a race that drew national attention.
In that race, for comparison, Neal beat Morse 84,092 to 59,110 in the Democratic primary and then received 275,376 in the final election. He had no Republican opponent.
Neal beat Martilli in Berkshire County by more than 20 points, as reported by iBerkshires.com, which also reported a “huge turnout” in the county for the election. Martilli did not carry any of the largest communities in the congressional district such as Springfield, Holyoke, Chicopee, and Westfield. He did not carry his hometown of West Springfield as well. The nearly 40 percent of the vote that he attracted indicated that opposition to Neal certainly is a factor in the political make-up of the district.
Martilli started his campaign in July and admitted to Reminder Publishing that funding was an issue to his efforts.
Martilli pointed this out in one press release in which he said, “Do you really believe that Biden, Schumer, Pelosi and Neal care about you? Richard Neal is not even out here in the district. No campaign events, No debates. He, like many other Democrats this cycle, is avoiding having to be held accountable and the media is complicit in letting him hide. Democrats could care less about you, only your vote. It’s time for change. It’s time for real leadership.”
This reporter and Focus Springfield did ask Neal’s campaign for a debate, however the request was not fulfilled.
Neal serves as the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, one of the most powerful ones in Congress. He recently accompanied House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly referred to as COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
According to an interview with the State House News Service on Nov. 7, Secretary of State William Galvin had predicted a low turnout statewide of 2.2 million of the state’s 4.8 million registered voters. His office has not yet posted the actual final figures.
Galvin told State House News Service reporter Sam Doran that “If there’s any momentum behind going out to vote tomorrow, above everything else, it’s the questions.”
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