• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • US set to ease AIDS-era blood donation rules for gay men
  • Learning From COVID: Early Detection, Isolation, and Elimination Beats More Defensive Responses As Global Strategy for Future Pandemics
  • Phew! Truck-sized asteroid misses Earth

Gay MA Congressional Candidate Alex Morse Debates Rep. Richard Neal Amid Sexual Smear Campaign Allegations: WATCH LIVE

Towleroad August 17, 2020 Leave a Comment

Alex Morse Richard Neal
Alex morse / richard neal

Gay Massachusetts Democratic congressional candidate and Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse is set to debate longtime incumbent Rep. Richard Neal, the chair of the powerful Ways and Means committee, at 7 pm ET amid allegations that leaders of the state’s Democratic party coordinated with the College Democrats of Massachusetts (CDMA) in a smear campaign against Morse, involving unsubstantiated allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior. Neal has denied any involvement in the allegations against Morse.

A new internal poll shows Morse within 5 points of Neal. The primary is in 15 days. Listen to the debate below on NPR. The lower video is an archive of the earlier part of the debate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS176BP2fAY

If you haven’t been following the story, officials from the Massachusetts Democratic Party, including both the chairman and the executive director, are alleged to have helped coordinate a recent attack on Morse, involving unsubstantiated allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct.

Morse last week responded “to a letter from [the CDMA], accusing him of using ‘his position of power for romantic or sexual gain,’ according to the Massachusetts Daily Collegian. The CDMA alleged that Morse had sexual relations with students at UMass Amherst, where he is a lecturer in the department of political science, as well from other schools in the Five College Consortium, during his campaign. They accused him of meeting students as young as 18 on dating apps such as Tinder and Grindr. He also connected with them on Instagram, adding them to his “Close Friends” story and direct-messaging them, which made some of them feel uncomfortable.

Morse denied doing anything inappropriate and responded that he was staying in the race in a lengthy statement published to social media. After Morse’s response, the bombshell report broke that alleged state Democratic party leaders colluded with the student group on the attack.

News also broke that 10 months before the allegations, the president of a Democratic student group reportedly vowed to “sink” the Holyoke mayor’s campaign in order to win a job working for Neal.

Late on Sunday, 48 Democratic State Committee members signed a letter calling for an investigation into whether state Democratic Party leaders were involved in the attack on Morse.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette reports: “Gus Bickford, the chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, sent a message to Democratic State Committee members on Sunday morning in which he said he had tapped other party higher-ups…to initiate an investigation of ‘recent news reports regarding certain activity of the Democratic Party staff and volunteers in the CD-1 primary.'”

Wrote Bickford in the letter: “This group will, upon their unilateral authority, select an independent investigator to review the matter, determine whether rules were broken, and publish in due order a report and attendant recommendations, if any. The report, in full, will be provided to the entire DSC membership upon its receipt.”

“However, the 48 Democratic State Committee members who signed a separate letter later in the day calling for a quicker review questioned ‘the ability of the party to investigate itself, and the role leadership may have played,'” the Daily Hampshire Gazette reports.

On Monday afternoon, The Intercept, which broke the story of possible collusion between the Massachusetts Democratic Party and the CDMA, reported that Massachusetts Democratic Party Executive Director Veronica Martinez “told student leaders to delete records of communications between themselves and the state party” after news of the coordination began to break.

In a story published Friday, the Intercept reported it is “undeniable … that the state Democratic party was behind the emergence of the allegations,” citing five sources within the state party and connected to the College Democrats of Massachusetts (CDMA), a review of messages between party leadership and the leadership of the CDMA, and call records obtained by reporters. 

“The documents show that the Massachusetts Democratic Party’s executive director Veronica Martinez and chair Gus Bickford connected the students with attorneys, among them, the powerful state party figure and attorney Jim Roosevelt, who worked with the college group on a letter alleging Morse behaved inappropriately,” the Intercept reported. “A [Democratic State Committee] member told The Intercept that in their view, the different roles Martinez, Bickford, and Roosevelt played in the development and release of the CDMA letter—as well as the ensuing attempts to cover up their involvement after the fact—make the state party’s hostility to Morse, a young gay man, hard to ignore. ‘As a DSC member, it’s pretty angering that party resources and party staff were put into an effort to attack a gay candidate,’ the member said. ‘I don’t know how we can have any trust with the LGTBQ community going forward.’”

Roosevelt, the attorney, has twice contributed money to Neal’s campaign. Roosevelt has also fought back against the progressive wing of the party, and Morse is challenging Neal from the left. 

Though Neal has denied any involvement in the allegations against Morse, a senior Neal staffer said privately earlier this year that the congressman wasn’t worried about the primary challenge from Morse “because the young mayor was known to have slept with college students and that information would emerge at the right time,” according to the Intercept. 

Topics: Social Media, towleroad More Posts About: 2020 Election, 2020 Election, Alex Morse, Massachusetts, Richard Neal

Related Posts
  • Maura Healey elected US’s first openly lesbian governor — Massachusetts
  • Queen Misses Husband; Say She’s been Sad; Slips Gift to Those Grieving with Grace, Humor — As The GOAT Queen Does — She Models How To Ensure Your Your Slice of Xmas Joy LISTEN
  • U.S. appeals court pauses release of Trump documents to House riot probe
  • Learning From COVID:  Early Detection, Isolation, and Elimination Beats More Defensive Responses  As  Global Strategy for Future Pandemics

    Learning From COVID: Early Detection, Isolation, and Elimination Beats More Defensive Responses As Global Strategy for Future Pandemics

    Imagine it is 2030. Doctors in a regional hospital in country X note an expanding cluster of individuals with severe respiratory disease. Rapid whole-genome sequencing identifies the disease-causing agent as a novel coronavirus. Epidemiological investigations suggest …Read More »
  • Phew! Truck-sized asteroid misses Earth

    Phew! Truck-sized asteroid misses Earth

    Published by AFP Small asteroid to pass close by Earth Los Angeles (AFP) – Bruce Willis: you can stand down. A truck-sized asteroid that suddenly loomed out of the darkness a few days ago — with …Read More »
  • ‘Trump fatigue’ in New Hampshire complicates 2024 White House bid

    ‘Trump fatigue’ in New Hampshire complicates 2024 White House bid

    Published by Reuters By Tim Reid WEARE, New Hampshire (Reuters) – When Donald Trump trounced his Republican rivals in New Hampshire’s 2016 primary, the stunning win announced to other states the reality TV showman was a …Read More »
  • Monica Bellucci ‘scared’ to play Maria Callas on stage

    Monica Bellucci ‘scared’ to play Maria Callas on stage

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Monica Bellucci felt “scared” about making her stage debut playing opera legend Maria Callas in a one-woman show. The ‘ Spectre’ star portrays the soprano in the play ‘Letters and Memoirs’ …Read More »
Previous Post: « Death Valley, COVID Saliva Test, Dad, Bryce Hall, Dropboxes, Edward Snowden, Trump Boat Parade, Charles Busch, Pentatonix: HOT LINKS
Next Post: Virtual Democratic National Convention Begins with Michelle Obama, Bernie Sanders, Andrew Cuomo and More: WATCH LIVE »

Primary Sidebar

Adjacent News

  • Madison Square Garden’s facial recognition blacklisting sparks outcry

    Madison Square Garden’s facial recognition blacklisting sparks outcry

  • Over half of LGBTQ parents surveyed in Florida considered leaving state over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law

    Over half of LGBTQ parents surveyed in Florida considered leaving state over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law

  • Watch: George Santos closes door on reporters asking about amended FEC report

    Watch: George Santos closes door on reporters asking about amended FEC report

Good Trash: Going to Read It Somewhere, Y'know

  • Steamy! Miranda Lambert Shows Off Shirtless Husband Brendan McLoughlin To Celebrate Their Anniversary

    Steamy! Miranda Lambert Shows Off Shirtless Husband Brendan McLoughlin To Celebrate Their Anniversary

  • ‘Sister Wives’ Alum Leon Brown Debuts Gender-Affirming Top Surgery Seven Months After Announcing New Pronouns

    ‘Sister Wives’ Alum Leon Brown Debuts Gender-Affirming Top Surgery Seven Months After Announcing New Pronouns

  • ‘Unfollowing Now’: Rebel Wilson Faces Backlash For Attending Lavish Hotel Opening In Dubai As Critics Address Anti-LGBT Laws

    ‘Unfollowing Now’: Rebel Wilson Faces Backlash For Attending Lavish Hotel Opening In Dubai As Critics Address Anti-LGBT Laws

RSS Partner Links

  • FDA Okays Some Gay Blood Donations + Leaving Santosland + Arkansas Plotting To Ban Drag Shows — Entirely + MORE! — 6-PACK
  • OMG, happy Friday: Hosted by this man hosing someone’s car down
  • Rep. Troy Nehls: You Gotta Call Donald Trump To End War
  • Alan Cumming’s birthday gift to himself
  • Nadya “Octomom” Suleman’s Octuplets Celebrated Their 14th Birthday
  • OMG, have you heard? Trans model and artist Laith Ashley stars in Taylor Swift’s new video
  • Jay Leno Breaks Multiple Bones in Motorcycle Accident Two Months After Gasoline Fire

Most Recent

  • US set to ease AIDS-era blood donation rules for gay men

    US set to ease AIDS-era blood donation rules for gay men

  • Learning From COVID:  Early Detection, Isolation, and Elimination Beats More Defensive Responses  As  Global Strategy for Future Pandemics

    Learning From COVID: Early Detection, Isolation, and Elimination Beats More Defensive Responses As Global Strategy for Future Pandemics

  • Phew! Truck-sized asteroid misses Earth

    Phew! Truck-sized asteroid misses Earth

  • ‘Trump fatigue’ in New Hampshire complicates 2024 White House bid

    ‘Trump fatigue’ in New Hampshire complicates 2024 White House bid

  • Monica Bellucci ‘scared’ to play Maria Callas on stage

    Monica Bellucci ‘scared’ to play Maria Callas on stage

  • ‘You’re An Embarrassment’: Kimberly Guilfoyle Gets Backlash For Making Fun Of The FBI’s Skills When Raiding President Joe Biden’s Home For Documents

    ‘You’re An Embarrassment’: Kimberly Guilfoyle Gets Backlash For Making Fun Of The FBI’s Skills When Raiding President Joe Biden’s Home For Documents

  • Tyre Nichols death: Memphis braces for protests when police video is released

    Tyre Nichols death: Memphis braces for protests when police video is released

  • Stevie Nicks Announces 2023 Tour Dates

    Stevie Nicks Announces 2023 Tour Dates

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

Footer

Copyright © 2023 · Log in

×