Roundup: Neal trouncing challengers in money race; Herr, Lamb trade charges

Continuing their look at the finances of candidates for Congress in Central Massachusetts, the Telegram reported Wednesday that Rep. Richard Neal (D-Springfield) had nearly $3 million in his bank account at the end of the most recent filing period, far outpacing the two Republicans vying for the nomination to oppose him in November.

According to Federal Election Commision reports, Jay Fleitman (R-Northampton) had a little over $54,000 remaining, putting the physician at a 48-to-1 disadvantage to Neal. Tom Wesley (R-Hopedale) had even less money to spend, reporting under $27,000 in available cash. The sum is more than 111 times less than Neal has banked.

Both candidates have heavily self-financed, with Fleitman loaning his campaign over $73,000 and Wesley lending around $33,000 to his effort.

One of the best ways to cope with a lack of funds is through free media, and both Fleitman and Wesley have taken advantage of the opportunities over the last few days. On Tuesday, the two appeared on Channel 22 in Springfield for a televised debate.

Wesley appeared on WHYN-AM Radio in Springfield to talk about his campaign.

Fleitman also did a radio gig, speaking with Bax and O'Brien on WAQY-FM.

The Springfield Republican previewed the race between Fleitman and Wesley, anointing Fleitman as the "higher profile" candidate.

Neal visited manufacturing facilities in Webster and Spencer, talking to employees and entrepreneurs about jobs and international competition.

Third Congressional District
The big news in the Third District was also about campaign finance, but instead of discussing how much was raised, two of the GOP candidates for the nomination were sniping back and forth about House ethics and FEC rules violations. From the MetroWest Daily News:

With less than a week before the primary, two Republicans in the 3rd Congressional District race exchanged broadsides yesterday, accusing each other with not following election rules.


The dispute between Brian Herr of Hopkinton and Marty Lamb of Holliston stems from Herr's failure to meet a May deadline for turning in a financial disclosure form listing personal income, assets and liabilities. The snag was first publicized by the Daily News, not Lamb's campaign.

The dispute has devolved into a nice bit of schoolyard taunting:

"I am very disappointed that Mr. Herr would blatantly attempt to mislead voters, but it seems to be a pattern with him," Lamb spokesman Shane Hayes said in the statement.

Herr said his campaign would not have mentioned the filings had Lamb not repeatedly raised the tardy financial disclosure form.

"The issue here is people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks," he said.

The Telegram and Worcester Magazine have more. CMassPolitics.com posted both Herr's and Lamb's press releases on Wednesday.

One candidate who hopes the voters send both candidates to detention is Michael Stopa (R-Holliston). Stopa has been making the rounds on local radio, touting his platform yesterday on WCRN-AM's Peter Blute Show and speaking this morning with WTAG's Jim Polito.

Fifth Congressional District
The Lowell Sun rounds up the voting records of the four Republican candidates for the seat currently held by Niki Tsongas (D-Lowell). While earlier coverage had focused on Jon Golnik (R-Carlisle) and his eight-and-a-half year refusal to even register to vote, the Sun's piece points out that most of the other candidates also have their gaps:

...Westford's Tom Weaver was the only one of the four Republican candidates to vote in the October 2007 special election that sent Tsongas to Congress to replace former U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan, who resigned to become chancellor of UMass Lowell.

"I think your public history matters, and that's comprised of voting record, community service and involvement and where you've worked," Weaver said. "People have to put whatever weight they feel is important on that, but I've been saying, tongue-in-cheek, that I'm the only candidate who has been running against Niki Tsongas since 2007."

Golnik, Sam Meas of Haverhill and Robert Shapiro of Andover all failed to vote in that special election that gave Tsongas her first electoral victory by just 6 percentage points over Republican Jim Ogonowski of Dracut.

Tsongas is scheduled to be a guest on Channel 5's "On the Record" Sunday morning. Portions of the interview have been made available online. 
 
First Congressional District
Rep. John Olver (D-Amherst) touted the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act in a visit to North Adams, saying the economy needs more stimulus spending in the near future to continue recovery.
 
A post on the liberal site Firedoglake.com touts Michael Engel (U-Southampton) as a "True Activist Progressive Leftist" and says he "is a true grassroots reformer, a democratic socialist in the mold of Bernie Sanders."

Press Release: Michael Engel Endorsed by Green-Rainbow Party in MA-01

The following press release was sent by Michael Engel (U-Southampton), candidate for representative from the First Congressional District.

Green-Rainbow Party Endorses Engel Congressional Candidacy

Southampton, MA - August 29 - Michael Engel, independent candidate for the U. S. House from the first district, has been endorsed by the State Committee of the Massachusetts Green-Rainbow Party (GRP) at its meeting today in Boston.

Engel commented that he is “proud and pleased” over the endorsement, and noted that his own approach to economic policy and political reform is consistent with the “Ten Key Values” of the GRP.

Michael Horan, Co-Chair of the GRP, stated, “There's nothing, to my mind, more important than folks of similar values and mindsets and goals transcending our labels to make common cause. When truly independent candidates and dyed-in-the-wool Greens (and similar parties!) look behind the labels and extend a hand, we actually start getting somewhere.”

Engel will continue to run as an independent, and will be listed as such on the November ballot.

Congressional Roundup: Golnik's DNV

In basketball, a player who suits up but does not appear in the game is shown in the box score as a "DNP" (Did Not Play). According to a report this weekend in the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, Third Congressional District candidate Jon Golnik (R-Carlisle) has been quite the bench warmer, as he did not vote at all from November, 2008 to March, 2009:

"It's one of those things you're certainly not proud of and wish you could change," Golnik said of his voting record. "I fell into a trap and I got disillusioned. I got frustrated...."

"I was an activist. And then I stopped," Golnik wrote on his campaign website under the header "My Political Journey." "What happened to a young activist like me and a lot of others after 2000 that made me make the active decision not to vote? It wasn't because I didn't care. I felt that I upheld my end and that my party didn't uphold its end. I felt betrayed. I believe Republicans lost their way after Bush's 2000 election."

Not only is Golnik being criticized for his DNV (Did Not Vote), an area blogger and strong supporter of Sam Meas (R-Haverhill) is suggesting that the fire that destroyed Golnik's headquarters may have been started by the candidate (or one of his supporters). The Lowell Sun reports:

Mike Farquhar, who writes on the blog rabidrepublicanblog.com, asked "Could this be a narcissist's criminal bid for attention?"

"Maybe it's just my suspicious nature, but with three honorable candidates in this race, and one proven liar ... could this be a self-inflicted wound?" Farquhar wrote.

The Golnik camp was appalled.

"Thirty-six hours after the fire that destroyed the Golnik office, we are fully functional and not focused on ridiculous accusations from anonymous people and blogs," said campaign spokeswoman Alicia Preston.

As you can imagine, Meas has distanced himself from Farquhar, saying he "doesn't condone anything Mike has said."

Elsewhere in the races for Congress...

Third Congressional District
Michael Stopa (R-Holliston) gets the full treatment from the Telegram today. To sum up:

“I am frustrated by the condescending stubbornness of the Obama administration, and I am scared by the complete cluelessness of what to do about it,” he says bluntly.

Martin Lamb (R-Holliston) got to be part of The Hark Stolz Experience. Unfortunately you won't be able to get the full experience, as only the first segment of the show has been published.

Audio of Brian Herr's (R-Hopkinton) radio ad has also been posted to You Tube.

In talking about the effort to restore cuts to food stamp programs, Rep. James McGovern (D-Worcester) said "Let's not rob Peter to pay Paul." Any old saying that reminds me of former Red Sox G.M. Lou Gorman warms my heart.

McGovern also attended the reopening of a Jiffy Lube in Westborough to laud the company's charitable efforts. He was joined by current Selectmen Timothy Dodd (D-Westborough), who is running in the Ninth Worcester House District, and George Thompson (R-Westborough), who is campaigning for the Middlesex and Worcester Senate seat.

First Congressional District
Bill Gunn (R-Ware) will be out of the district and in Washington, DC this week to fulfill his community service obligations. According to a press release, Gunn was arrested on March 21 and charged with disruption of congress for yelling "Kill the Bill" from the House gallery during debate on the Affordable Care Act. Gunn was subsequently sentenced to 40 hours of community service, to be completed this week at the Greater Capital Area Food Bank.

Last week, Gunn appeared on the "Politically Speaking" show on Fitchburg Access Television.

Michael Engel (U-Southampton) announced that he has accepted an invitation to debate Gunn at a Tea Party event in the coming weeks. No definitive date has been set.

Thursday Congressional Roundup: Immigration dominates debate

Four of the five challengers for the Third Congressional District seat held by Rep. James McGovern (D-Worcester) squared off last night in a Shrewsbury debate. The forum, sponsored by the Shrewsbury League of Women Voters, gave Brian Herr (R-Hopkinton), Michael Stopa (R-Holliston), Martin Lamb (R-Holliston), and Robert Delle (R-Paxton) a chance to differentiate themselves from each other, however slightly. One area where there was both some consensus and disagreement was on immigration policy, as reported in the Telegram:

Though they all oppose amnesty, the candidates differed somewhat in their views on illegal immigration. Mr. Herr and Mr. Lamb both said the borders need to be secured, with the help of the U.S. military. They said existing laws need to be enforced to make the country unattractive to illegal immigrants.

Mr. Lamb went a step further, saying employers should be fined or charged for hiring illegal immigrants. He also believes citizenship should not be a birthright for children born to illegal immigrants.

Mr. Stopa voiced strong support for Arizona's new immigration law and said other states should be allowed to pass such laws. “I think we should send 12 million illegal aliens back to their home countries,” he said.

As a lawyer, Mr. Delle said, he has represented hundreds of illegal immigrants.

He said the illegal immigration problem has been overstated, and that people who live in the country illegally are not stealing jobs that citizens and legal residents would want.

Delle, who has lived in Westboro, Wayland, and now Paxton in the last year, also remarked that he was the best candidate because he doesn't "need a GPS to get around here." The article doesn't mention if the remark was serious or self-deprecating, but if he was joking about his frequent moves...well, that's funny.

While the Republicans were slugging it out, McGovern was discussing food stamp policy and other subjects on the Callie Crossley show on WGBH-FM.
 
Fifth Congressional District
The four Republicans hoping to replace Niki Tsongas (D-Lowell) faced off in a debate Tuesday in Chelmsford.
 
Just hours after the Tuesday debate, the campaign headquarters of Jon Golnik (R-Carlisle) were destroyed in a Westford blaze. Golnik told The Boston Globe that the fire will not slow down his campaign. In fact, Congressional Quarterly reported yesterday that Golnik has turned the loss into a fundraising pitch.
 
First Congressional District
Michael Engel (U-Southampton) asks on his blog if anyone has seen Rep. John Olver (D-Amherst) recently, illustrating his query with a photoshop of the incumbent on the side of a milk carton.

Candidates weigh in on Islamic Cultural Center, one wants to build "pork factory"

Congressional candidates in the Fifth and First Districts weighed in yesterday on a controversial local real estate project that has caused quite a bit discussion recently. Of course, the project isn't in Lowell or Lawrence or some other municipality where their opinions might carry some weight; rather the discussion yesterday centered on plans to build an Islamic cultural center a few blocks north of the former site of the World Trade Center in New York.

But since the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" is the cultural issue du jour, the candidates spoke with the Sentinel and Enterprise. One, Bill Gunn (R-Belchertown) is so incensed he wants to make sausages next to the Islamic Center in an effort to antagonize organizers:

Gunn went on to say that if the developers don't accept an offer to relocate the mosque, protesters should "make their lives miserable." He even suggested allowing businesses that would be objectionable to Muslims -- such as a pork factory -- to locate nearby.

I have a hard time believing that a major-party candidate would suggest building factories not as a way to create jobs, but in order to attempt to antagonize a religious group. But there you go.

The other candidates:

First Congressional District
Michael Engel (U-Southampton): "It's obviously not a good idea, but I don't share all the hysteria."
John Olver (D-Amherst) did not comment.

Fifth Congressional District
Jon Golnik (R-Carlisle): "an unwarranted provocation and abuse of our freedoms."
Sam Meas (R-Haverhill): "I think it's insensitive."
Robert Shapiro (R-Andover): "height of insensitivity."
Tom Weaver (R-Westford): "Build it in Flushing."
Niki Tsongas (D-Lowell): "it would not be inappropriate for them to...reconsider their decision."