Nuciforo to challenge Neal for First Congressional District

Date: 2/13/2012

Feb. 13, 2012

By G. Michael Dobbs

news@thereminder.com

NEWS ANALYSIS

HOLYOKE — The conventional wisdom is that incumbent Congressman Richard Neal — with name recognition, funding and support from other elected officials — would have the election to the newly created First Congressional District pretty well sewn up, but Andrea Nuciforo Jr. doesn't see it that way.

Nuciforo, a former state senator and currently the Registrar of Deeds for Berkshire County, is challenging Neal and giving voters the first Democratic primary for a congressional seat here since 1991.

Neal will also face political newcomer and long-time writer William Shein of Alford in the primary scheduled for Sept. 6.

Accompanied by a school bus full of supporters, Nuciforo went on a one-day tour of the district on Feb. 8 to formally announce his candidacy. The tour started with a stop at Open Square in Holyoke, followed by events in Southbridge, Easthampton, Charlemont and Pittsfield.

Nuciforo served in the state senate from 1997 to 2007, where he was the chair of the Joint Committee on Financial Services and was a member of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

In a speech that avoided noting Neal by name, Nuciforo said, "I am running because the middle class and working people of Massachusetts and this country are falling behind. Our country is headed down the wrong track and our economy is rigged against ordinary people. With your help, I intend to go to Washington to fight for the families struggling in this economy and to reverse the policies that got us here."

He added, "Now I know the old rule. Politicians in Massachusetts stay in office until they are ready to walk away. The time has come to break that rule."

Appealing to independent voters as Sen. Scott Brown has successfully done, Nuciforo struck a populist tone by saying, "The reality is that Washington politicians of both parties have allowed a small group of corporations and individuals to increase their wealth and political power at the expense of everybody else."

He outlined three major parts of his campaign, starting with a promise to "stay true" to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the Veterans' Administration.

The reasons behind the economic collapse of 2008 must be examined "and take specific steps to reverse those trends," he said.

The third priority is to "lead the country to a shared prosperity." During the course of the campaign, Nuciforo said he would outline his steps to restore the middle class.

Nuciforo said that incumbency is not an issue in this campaign because the seat is for a newly created district.

"You don't hear a lot of incumbents bragging about their incumbency these days," he said, referring to the public's reaction to the economy and other issues.

He intends to take his campaign to every community in the district and wanted to begin in Holyoke because it has "a history built on immigrant families, manufacturing and upward mobility." He added his father is from Italy, his mother is from Poland and his wife is Russian.

Going to smaller communities on this one-day swing through the district was also symbolic of his focusing attention on the entire district, he explained.

When asked about campaign financing, Nuciforo said, "Money is always important in politics, sadly. We're not going to have $2 million. But we will have enough."

According to OpenSecret.org. by Dec. 31, 2011, Nuciforo had raised $128,328, spent $92,592 and had $136,607 in cash on hand. There were no contributions from political action committees (PACs) and 77 percent had come from individuals, while 23 percent was candidate self-financing.

In comparison, according to the website, by Dec. 31, 2011, Neal had raised $705,419, had spent $428,072 and had $2.45 million in cash in hand. Seventy-six percent of his funds came from PACs, 19 percent from individuals and 5 percent from other sources. There was no money from Neal himself.

A wild card with the new district will be the shift of Springfield into the district and Northampton and Amherst out out of the district. With potentially greater name recognition in Berkshire County, Nuciforo might have an edge there, but the question would be if it is enough to counter Neal's strength in Springfield.

With his financial background in the state senate, Nuciforo said that consumers need advocacy in Washington D.C. to counter "the systematic deregulation that led to the collapse of the financial markets."

Nuciforo's campaign website is http://nuciforo.com.