Two military veterans are locked in a battle for the state’s only open congressional seat — but their service to their country and to their hometowns as city councilors is about all they have in common.
Jake Auchincloss, 32, a former Newton city councilor and U.S. Marine captain who served in Afghanistan and Panama, narrowly won the seven-way Democratic primary for the 4th Congressional District seat vacated by U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III.
Republican Julie Hall, 62, a former Attleboro city councilor and U.S. Air Force colonel who oversaw medical centers, bested fellow Air Force veteran David Rosa in the GOP primary.
Both candidates say their military experience would impact their work in Congress. Hall pointed to more than three decades working with “a diverse group of people in achieving seemingly impossible goals” that she said would give her the confidence “to speak loudly and clearly to represent the needs of my district and the state.”
Auchincloss took a more global view that focused on reducing “massive troop deployments in nation-building exercises” that he said “needlessly” endanger lives, while promoting “international aid and robust diplomacy.”
With coronavirus infections on the rise once more in Massachusetts, both candidates advocated against reinstituting lockdowns, citing the economic and mental health strain on Bay State residents and businesses.
But the virus became a flashpoint in the rivals’ sole debate on WPRI, when Hall said she would not take a COVID-19 vaccine even if it was approved by the FDA.
“I would not,” Hall said, adding that she doesn’t take the flu vaccine. “However, I think there are people who really need to take this vaccine. And I would wait to see whether it’s proven that it’s going to work.”
Auchincloss, who said he would take the vaccine, accused Hall of being an “anti-vaxxer.” The Democrat, whose father is the top deputy to Dr. Anthony Fauci at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also advocated for a federal mask mandate. Hall said “people need to continue to wear masks” but rules should be left to individual states.
Auchincloss, a self-described “pragmatic progressive” who was briefly a Republican, took heat from his progressive primary rivals for comparatively moderate stances on key issues.
“Labels are less important than how I’ll approach the job,” he told the Herald, pledging to “fight climate change” and advocate for protecting women’s abortion rights.
The Democrat, in turn, has blasted his GOP rival as a “Trump Republican.”
Hall said in the debate she’s “not Donald Trump.” She backs the president’s economic policies, but breaks rank in other areas, like supporting the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
“People don’t always agree with what I say,” Hall told the Herald. “But they trust and believe I will always have their best interests in mind.”
The opponents also contrast simply by hailing from different corners of the socioeconomically diverse district.
“Our challenges are different from our very affluent neighbors in the north who have dominated governance over the rest of the district for much too long,” Hall said. “It is time to have some balance.”
Auchincloss advocated for an “inclusive economic recovery” post-pandemic that “means every family, everywhere in the district, gets back on their feet with good-paying jobs.”