Alex Morse, a four-year-old Holyoke mayor at 31, is running against Rep. Richard Neal, the Democratic incumbent and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, in a primary Sept. 1 meeting. Morse’s campaign has the collective support of leading progressive groups, including Justice Democrats, the Working Families Party, Indivisible and Sunrise Movement. Andrew Yang, the former Democratic presidential candidate, and Jamaal Bowman, who is another powerful official, the New York Rep. Eliot Engel, fired in a primary June, also signed Morse.
In an email to Morse on Thursday, representatives of the Massachusetts College Democrats, UMass Amherst Democrats and Amherst College Democrats wrote that Morse was “no longer welcome” at her events after “numerous incidents over several years” in which she claim the candidate used her events and took advantage of his status, as elected official and lecturer at UMass Amherst, to “meet university students” and then continue to interact with people via social media, who they said were “young students” made uncomfortable. ”
“We’ve heard countless stories from Morse adding students to his’ Close Friends Story ‘and members of College Democrats’ direct posts on Instagram in a way that makes these students feel pressured to respond because of his status,” she wrote. “Even if these scenarios are mutually consensual, the pattern of using Morse’s platform and taking advantage of its position of power for romantic or sexual gain, specifically for young students, is unacceptable.”
In an email sent to the groups to respond to the allegations, Morse said he would “sincerely apologize to anyone I felt uncomfortable with” and offered to meet with “any person as a group” to discuss their concerns. to discuss.
“I want to be clear that every relationship I have been in has been consensual. However, I also acknowledge that I need to be aware of my position of power,” Morse wrote.
“Growing up gay and gay in a small town like Holyoke, I had a hard time accepting my sexuality, and in high school I had a hard time finding other openly gay students,” Morse said. “As I became more comfortable with myself and my sexuality, like any young, single, open gay man, I have had consensual relationships with adults, including some with students.”
He went on to say, “Navigating life as both a young gay man and an elected official can be difficult, but that excludes bad judgment.”
Morse did not respond to a request for comment.
Spokesmen for Justice Democrats, an early Morse backer, and the Working Families Party, who signed him this week, did not respond to requests for comment on the allegations. The college’s Democratic groups said in their letter that they would be “completely unnecessary to Morse.”
In a statement Saturday, UMass Amherst called the allegations against Morse “serious and profound.”
The school also said it was planning to “launch a direct review of the case to determine whether the alleged actions during his time as a university lecturer were in conflict with university policy or federal title IX law.”
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