BOSTON (AP) — U.S. Rep. Richard Neal and his Democratic primary challenger, Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse, are set to face off in a debate Monday night as Morse tries to unseat the longtime incumbent.
The race has been marked by allegations of inappropriate sexual contact with students by Morse when he was an adjunct professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
The 31-year-old Democratic mayor, who is gay, maintains his relationships with college students were consensual.
His target is Neal, the 71-year-old first elected to the U.S. House in 1988 to represent the state’s 1st Congressional District.
The district encompasses the western portion of the state, including Pittsfield, Springfield, Lenox, North Adams and Stockbridge.
Neal is the longest-serving member of the Massachusetts delegation and currently chairs the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.
Neal has a significant fundraising edge over Morse. As of the end of June, Neal reported more than $4.2 million in his campaign account compared to Morse, who has about $315,000.
Morse was first elected mayor in 2011 at age 22. He has been reelected three times.
The election took a turn in recent weeks when accusations surfaced of Morse having sexual contact with students.
Morse has suggested that the allegations — first raised by the College Democrats of Massachusetts, a college outreach wing of the Massachusetts Democratic Party — were politically motivated and publicly blamed the Neal campaign.
Neal’s campaign has dismissed Morse’s accusations as “flat wrong.”
UMass-Amherst last week said it hired a Boston lawyer to conduct an independent review.
The university said in a statement it believes the allegations against Morse require a thorough review, including whether UMass students were subjected to a “hostile learning environment” as outlined in federal and state anti-discrimination laws.
Morse maintains that his relationships with students did not violate school policies. He’s said he will fully cooperate with the inquiry.
Morse has won support from LGBTQ rights groups like MassEquality, which said in a statement that the accusations feed “into the homophobic trope of gay men as predators.”
State Sen. Julian Cyr, who describes himself as an “an ‘out’ queer elected official” said he was also concerned that the allegations against Morse were being sensationalized because he is gay.
“This race will set a precedent for whether vague and anonymous allegations can be easily launched against LGBTQ candidates to destroy their campaigns,” Cyr said in a statement last week.
The debate is being produced by a partnership of New England Public Media, The Republican and MassLive, and The Berkshire Eagle.
The primary is Sept. 1.
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