Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, a Springfield attorney looking to challenge incumbent Rep. Richard Neal in the 2018 Democratic primary, officially launched her U.S. House run Tuesday with a series of campaign stops across Western Massachusetts.
Amatul-Wadud, a member of the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women and board member for the Massachusetts Council of American-Islamic Relations, discussed her vision for the state’s 1st Congressional District and met with voters during events in Shelburne Falls, Pittsfield and Springfield.
The 44-year-old Democratic hopeful said she decided to run for Congress in response to the number of Western Massachusetts residents she has met through outreach work who’ve expressed that they feel ignored and underrepresented in Washington.
The current response to the opioid epidemic, access to high-speed internet and unemployment, among other issues, further inspired her to throw her hat into the ring, Amatul-Wadud said.
“I’ve decided the best way that I can make an impact is to run for this seat,” she said in an interview before her Pittsfield event. “It’s a herculean task. The district is huge: it touches every county in Western Massachusetts, it’s 6,000 square miles. We are fragmented and segmented, but once we get together and unite ... on those common values and those common needs, we will be an unstoppable district. We’ve spent 30 years kind of in this malaise that needs to end now.
“Now, more than ever, we’re facing a political climate that is begging for change and we’re here to deliver it,” she stressed.
The Democrat, who said she respects Neal’s work in the district, pledged to make sure all communities in Western Massachusetts are heard throughout her campaign and, if elected, in Congress.
Amatul-Wadud said she intends to run an “unapologetically progressive” campaign and supports issues like, implementing single-payer health care, addressing racial and other disparities in addiction treatment access, and overhauling the criminal justice system.
She acknowledged that she will likely face an uphill fundraising challenge -- particularly given Neal’s rising national profile as the House Ways and Means Committee’s ranking member -- but said she’s confident her campaign’s message will resonate with Democrats across the district.
“Running against an incumbent who is very wealthy, yes, conventional wisdom says ‘Don’t do it.’ But we have a voter turnout of 17 percent in our district -- that means that 83 percent of the people are apathetic,” she said. “We need those 83 percent of people to know that we hear them, that I am here, and that they are not forgotten.”
Amatul-Wadud added that she’s also ready to fight back against attacks from “fake news authors.”
“In the campaign I fully expect that I’ll be attacked in the media and I’ve already seen the playbook, I know what that’s going to look like: It will not talk about anything substantive, it will not speak on anything on the merits of who I am, but it will be soaked in the following values: misogyny/sexism, xenophobia and Islamophobia,” she said. “The fake news authors will be all over this, they will try to drive a wedge between me and my neighbors and when they realize they cannot break our spirit, they will keep trying. I’m asking people to keep no separation between us, come to me.”
Amatul-Wadud, whose firm fights on behalf of civil rights issues and domestic relations law, has become known for her work and public remarks on family law, civic engagement, interfaith solidarity, race and religion, as well as issues impacting women and children.
She was invited to the White House to partake in the “Celebrating and Protecting America’s Tradition of Religious Pluralism” ceremony in 2015, and was the keynote speaker at Westfield State University’s annual Interfaith Breakfast in April.
Amatul-Wadud holds degrees from Elms College and Western New England College School of Law. She is married and has seven children.
The Democrat filed her statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission late last week. She is currently the only candidate looking to challenge Neal in the 2018 contest, according to FEC data.
Neal was first elected to Congress in 1988. He represented the state’s 2nd Congressional District for 24 years until 2013 when redistricting led Springfield to be included in the 1st Congressional District.
The longtime congressman easily won re-election in 2016 despite being challenged by two newcomers: Frederick “Fritz” Mayock, an independent from Springfield, and Thomas T. Simmons, a Libertarian from Shelburne.
He, however, has faced criticism from some over his visits to the hill towns and Berkshire County.
Neal’s re-election campaign had a cash balance of $3.2 million as of the end of September, according to the FEC.