A Conversation With Alex Morse
From Holyoke to Washington, Morse wants to see urgency
Alex Morse is the mayor of Holyoke, Massachusetts. He’s previously made news for his youth, his efforts to revitalize the city, and his progressive stances. More recently, he announced that he will challenge incumbent Richard Neal for Massachusetts’s 1st Congressional district. We recently had the opportunity to talk with him about his time as mayor and his run for Congress.
Opinion Haver:
You announced for Congress today. That's pretty exciting.
Alex Morse:
I did. I'm super excited. It's been a great day here in western Massachusetts and a lot of excitement and support and just excited to get out there over the next 14 months and get that done.
Opinion Haver:
You're currently the mayor of a city called a Holyoke. I've never been there. I don't think most of our readers have, what's it like?
Alex Morse:
Yeah, Holyoke. So Holyoke is a city of about 40,000 people in Western Mass. We were at one point the paper capital of the world nickname The Paper City. And it's a city that has struggled over the last several decades as a post industrial city. It's a post-industrial city, that once relied on paper. And as the economy changes and globalization in a lot of other jobs and factories moved down south and overseas and we were left with poverty, and closing mills, high crime. And so that's sort of the backdrop I grew up in and over many years people that just kind of quietly given up on Holyoke and as someone that grew up here and went through the public schools, became the first in my family to go on to college, I couldn't resigned myself to that notion and I came back and announced my candidacy for mayor when I was 21 back in back in 2011.
Opinion Haver:
So mayor was your first job out of college, right?
Alex Morse:
Yes. So I graduated in May of 2011 and the primary was in September of 2011 and then got elected officially that November.
Opinion Haver:
So was there a pretty steep learning curve?
Alex Morse:
At the time? You know, I campaigned against an incumbent mayor. She had been in politics for about 30 years and you know, people had told me to wait my turn or run for a different office or just not run at all. And I'd always been very fortunate to have a great team and I provided a longterm vision for the city and it was less about direct governmental experience and more about values and a vision for the community and you know, having the wherewithal to implement that vision over the last eight years.
Opinion Haver:
What do you most proud of doing during your tenure as mayor?
Alex Morse:
Over the last eight years, and I described our challenges in a lot of ways, when you look at economic development and turn it around, the downtown revitalization and creating the innovation district, spurring entrepreneurial ecosystem where Holyoke residents have the tools they need to start their own small business. We see crime down dramatically to a 25-year low. We have the lowest unemployment rates than we've seen in decades. And the graduation rate, for example, is 49% when I took office. And now it's over 72% and just this overall sense that the city is moving in a positive direction, it's always been a place where it had a negative perception. And like I said, people had just kind of given up.
But more than anything I think I'm most proud of the fact that we've opened up the doors of City Hall to everyone. We're about 50% Latino, mostly of Puerto Rican decent and for so long there were some people in some neighborhoods and some places that benefited from government and others that didn't. And I really wanted to make sure that our city government, our boards and commissions, our department heads, our police department reflected the diversity and strength of every member of our community. And so I'm really proud of the fact that we made City Hall a more inclusive place and also had made investments and shown up in neighborhoods and places that hadn't seen an investment in our government present for some time.
Opinion Haver:
Well that's an inspiring story. It seems like you really like Holyoke. Why do you want to give it up to run for Congress?
Alex Morse:
I'm excited about the opportunity to be part of fundamental change in Washington that delivers for places like Holyoke. And when I think about why I ran for mayor eight years ago, it's the same reasons why I'm running for Congress. There are places in this district and people in this district that feel left behind and forgotten about. And I think our work in Holyoke served as a roadmap for where we want to take the district and that it is possible to move the needle and change outcomes and improve people's lives. And I also think we can only do so much on the local level with the resources we have to support our work and the system in which we're pretty much given by the Washington power structure. And what it prioritizes though, to be involved there and have the opportunity to change how Washington works and who should be benefiting from government the most and where we should be prioritizing our policies I think is something that we need here in Western Mass. I mean people are struggling on a whole host of issues.
Opinion Haver:
So you mentioned that there was a lot of resistance to you as a new up-and-comer challenging an incumbent for mayor, did you see that happening again as you start to explore a run for Congress?
Alex Morse:
Yes, that skepticism you said?
Opinion Haver:
Yeah, the skepticism or resistance to the idea of challenging an incumbent like that.
Alex Morse:
Yeah. Like I said, I'm no stranger to people telling me or wait my turn or run for something else or why go up against this experience and this power. And you know, for me it's yes to congressman, he knows how Washington works. I want to change how it works. He has power but you know, power for who? I want to make sure that the power of a congressional seat is used for each and every person of this district. And right now that power is being used for some, but not for everyone.
When you look at, whether it's Medicare For All, or the urgency around our climate crisis, or the opioid epidemic here in Western Mass, what's happening around the country with Republicans trying to roll back reproductive rights of women everywhere. When you're coming in Washington that prioritizes the values and will stand up over for people here.
Opinion Haver:
So let's say you get to Congress. What would your top priorities be? You mentioned Medicare For All and the opioid crisis. Would it be there? Would there be other things?
Alex Morse:
I mentioned Medicare for all and really taking the opioid epidemic as the crisis it is. I mean, people are dying here in western Mass and we need more resources and we need to see this as the public health epidemic that it is. It's also about a fundamental question of the role of money and politics and how it feeds into the way that Washington works and how it inhibits us from realizing our full potential and actually delving deep into progressive policy. So I think campaign finance reform is an absolute priority. You know, taking on the climate crisis is important. I also think, again, standing up to this movement from the right, the rollback basic protections for women, for the LGBT community, for black and brown communities, the racial wealth gap and making sure we do everything we can to deliver, not just for some people but everyone. And we've seen the remnants of a broken government and broken systems play out here in Holyoke and Springfield and many cities and towns here in the district.
Opinion Haver:
Touching on what you said about money in politics. You said that you're not going to be taking any money from corporations or PACs in this race - glad to hear it. And Congressman Neal raises hundreds of thousands or sometimes millions of dollars from those interests of recycle. Do you think that influences his decision making as a member of Congress?
Alex Morse:
Yeah, and I don't think voters and people should ever have to question who their member of Congress is beholden to. Right? I mean, the only people I want to be a representative and answer to are the people here and in Western Mass. And that's why this is a people-powered campaign with grassroots donations. So those are the only types of campaigns I've ever run throughout my four elections.
When you look at issues like Medicare For All, I mean, why have a member of Congress that is interested in preserving a healthcare system that puts profits and pharmaceutical companies before people and their health? And when you look at the, the vast amounts of money that Congressman Neal has taken from pharmaceutical industries to various companies that are profiting off of the system that we have in place, there's no doubt that there's a connection between that money and his actions as a member of Congress. And I think it's a shame, but I think it's important that we have members of Congress that aren't tied to special interests and aren't using the power of their office and the power that he has to preserve a system that's failing people here in Western Mass.
Opinion Haver:
Another issue that you've talked about before and worked on is the environment and climate change. You recently said that “in the absence of bold, collective action... human suffering will be great.” So what do you want that bold, collective action to look like?
Alex Morse:
I think that here in Holyoke we've taken some of that bold action. We recently converted, we closed a coal plant here in the city and converted that into a solar field. About 92% of our energy capacity comes from non-carbon sources, hydro-power, solar, geothermal, and being very deliberate about those investments. We've also seen the impact of climate disasters. Hurricane Maria and Puerto Rico led to upwards of 2000 Puerto Ricans from the island come into a Western Mass. And so we also have to focus on climate resiliency and making sure that communities all across our country are prepared for continual climate disasters around the world happening and affecting our cities and towns.
But we also recognize that the climate crisis, we can't protect ourselves from climate change as the borders of Holyoke or Western Mass. We need someone that knows how urgent this crisis is. You know, Neal is the only member of the nine members in Massachusetts that isn't signed on to the Green New Deal. And yes, it's about climate. It's also about creating jobs and economic opportunity. It's about focusing on those communities that are most harmed by climate change. And so I think we need to take a big picture look, we need to listen to the experts and the scientists and look at the data and have a response that is a great as the crisis.
Opinion Haver:
Congressman Neal has attracted a lot of attention recently - most notably from Tom Steyer, but it's a national issue - since January he's been seen as slow walking the efforts to get the Trump tax returns. Would you be taking a more aggressive oversight stance than he would?
Alex Morse:
I would. I do think he is slow walking this process. And I think we need accountability to this president, not more of the same. And I think, when given the opportunity to hold this President accountable to be more aggressive and to use his chairmanship for oversight, he hasn't fulfilled that duty. He hasn't fulfilled that duty. So we also can see what's happening in the state of New York, how hard they've worked to make those tax returns from New York available. And the Congressman again has failed to take that opportunity. I think to whatever extent we can use our office to provide the truth to the American people, we should be doing that.
Opinion Haver:
And overall House leadership, what's your opinion of the job that they're doing?
Alex Morse:
I think it's mixed. I think again people have lost faith in government, at lot of different levels. You know, when different folks are in power, things oftentimes don't change. And so people get frustrated and I know people are frustrated here in Western Mass. We have a powerful member of Congress, yet we still have the outcomes that we have. And so who is government working for and who isn't it working for? I know when I'm in Congress I'll listen to the people here in Western Mass before I listened to the party leadership on any issue. I mean that's who I answer to every day.
Opinion Haver:
Another interesting feature of this race that's kind of hard to avoid is age. Congressman Neal is 40 years older than you and he's been in office, or some office, continuously since 1978, which was 11 years before you were born. You're one of the youngest mayors in the country and in your first race, you said that voters saw your ages as an asset compared to the tenured incumbent you're running against. Do you see that dynamic repeating?
Alex Morse:
Yeah, I think it's a generational difference in many ways in the country that we are inheriting and sort of how we view government and how we view policy. So absolutely, I think that's important and there's an energetic and really important segment of our communities, of our population, that wants to change how things are done, and so I absolutely think that age is an asset. And it certainly was when I first ran for mayor that I used to say I haven't been in government long enough to see the holes in the special interests to think that certain goals and aspirations are impossible. I think too often when you're in the same position for 30 years, you focus more on the internal workings of the system than actually making sure the system is delivering for people that need help. And so, I think it's important that a new voice with different values and different priorities is in that position.
Opinion Haver:
You're a millennial. I'm a millennial. Do you think younger voters are approaching politics differently now that they're entering voting age?
Alex Morse:
Yes, I think they are. And I think when I say that a lot of people have lost faith in government actually being able to get things done and be a force for good in their lives, a lot of young people have been skeptical for some time because when Democrats are in power, sometimes we can't seem to deliver on a lot of the things that are important to millennials and so it's not just about having a Democrat and the seat, it's about having a Democrat that's willing to take on the establishment, willing to change the way Washington works and actually advocate for policies and issues that change lives and improve outcomes and expand opportunities.
Opinion Haver:
I apologize for jumping straight to your campaign ad, but you've been talking a lot about urgency and the need for urgency and whether certain politicians have it. What, concretely, would urgency look like? What would you want to see and call it an urgent action?
Alex Morse:
I think it's acknowledging sort of the moment we're in and the President we have and holding him accountable at every turn and calling him out for his xenophobia, his racism, his sexism. I think it's important that we have a member of Congress, like where do you stand on these issues? Where do you stand if Republicans are doing everything they can to roll back protections for women and the LGBT community?
We want to feel like we have someone in Washington that is on our side that will stand up for us when we're not there with them. And that's the kind of Congressman that I want to be. And frankly, it's supporting policies that actually will make a dent. I mean, again, people don't have access to health insurance or medical care here in Western Mass. I've met constituents and people who are struggling with addiction, and mental health, and mental illness, and lack of access to care. They can't get into detox or get adequate treatment because they don't have the resources, the means to get it. And so these are urgent issues for people that have to go through them each and every day and that urgency needs to be matched and responded to by a representative in Congress.
Opinion Haver:
One urgent crisis that's been in the news a lot recently is what's happening on the border with immigration. Longterm, we obviously need to have reforms about citizenship status and such, but immediately, what should we be doing?
Alex Morse:
Well, I think immediately what we need to do is stop separating families. We need to close the concentration camps. We need to get kids out of cages. I think we need to live up to what this country has purported to stand for by treating people, kids in particular, and all human beings, regardless of their citizenship, with decency, humanity, and respect. I think that's where we start. And I think the Trump Administration has made this crisis worse than it ever has been.
Opinion Haver:
In terms of specifically Congress, the Trump Administration has made it clear that they're gonna keep doing this. Should Democrats be willing to stop funding the department overall if they won't close down these camps?
Alex Morse:
Yes. I commend those House Democrats that voted against the most recent funding bill. I think we need to stop bowing to President Trump and the Republicans and stop giving them a blank check to keep pursuing the inhumane practices and policy that the border.
Opinion Haver:
Thanks. Just one final question. To a voter who doesn't know you and you just have to explain the biggest differences between yourself and Congressman Neal, what would you say?
Alex Morse:
[Pause] That I actually view my position as a means to improve their life. That I want to listen and learn and take that story, those challenges with me or Washington and be responsive to that. I'm more interested in improving lives and changing outcomes than I am in climbing the ladder in Washington D.C.
Opinion Haver:
That's every question I had prepared to ask you. Do you have anything else you want to say?
Alex Morse:
No, I mean I would just reiterate the fact that this is a people-powered campaign. We're not taking a dollar of corporate PAC money and it's important that if people want to join our campaign or invest in our campaign and the campaign ahead, they check out our website alexmorseforcongress.com to sign up for updates and invest in the campaign.
Opinion Haver:
Well, it was a pleasure talking to you.
Alex Morse:
Likewise
If you want to learn more about Alex, you can go to his website or check him out on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram
