In a new poll conducted by the Associated Press, Libertarian candidate for the 1st Congressional District in Massachusetts Thomas Simmons is only 4 points away from overtaking Democratic incumbent Richard Neal.
Neal has served in the House of Representatives since 1989. Having no primary challenger or Republican opponent, Simmons and Independent Frederick Mayock are his only opposition. Neal has faced no serious threat to reelection since 2010 when he defeated Republican Tom Wesley by 15 points. That comfortable margin of victory is to this point Neal’s closest election.
Simmons is a 56-year-old professor at Greenfield Community College, a position which he has held for 18 years. Due to his background in education, Simmons has made this one of the major issues in his platform:
Schools and teachers are spending more resources each year creating meaningless reports and data, and less and less time helping students at critical thinking. The result is that politicians claim they are addressing education issues, while in fact, some 60 percent of students enter our community college system at lower than college-ready aptitude in basic English and math skills.
With only 15 days until election day, Simmons is expected to ramp up his voter outreach so that he may pull off an improbably upset. Undoubtedly, this represents a unique opportunity for the Libertarian Party.
Watch Simmons Discuss the Second Amendment:
