Lowell’s Boott Mill (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.org)
LOWELL – Ann Wofford, a Republican from Haverhill, is redoubling her efforts to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas, announcing the official kick off her campaign next week in the heart of Tsongas’s Mill City hometown.
Wofford, who lost in her first bid against Tsongas in 2014 by 139,140 votes to 81,638 votes, didn’t shy from laying out a conservative agenda to set herself apart from Tsongas, in a statement Wednesday:
“In the past two years, health insurance costs have continued to rise, Common Core is now fully integrated into elementary school textbooks, our nation’s borders are less secure and the third congressional district now has a sanctuary city,” Wofford said in the statement, referring to Lawrence. “I will work toward the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and replace it with common sense solutions such as selling health insurance across state lines and the fostering of health savings accounts.”
“I will support funding of a secure border and enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws,” Wofford said.
Wofford’s campaign website notes that she graduated from high school in Springfield and moved to Haverhill with her husband after earning a chemical engineering degree from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Tsongas, the widow of former U.S. Sen. Paul Tsongas, won the seat in a 2007 special election to replace Marty Meehan, who resigned from Congress to become the chancellor of the University of Massachusetts – Lowell. Meehan has since risen to lead the UMass system.
Wofford described Tsongas as “an individual who has voted to increase the national debt at every opportunity, who supports the Iran deal and who believes that her job is to advance the interests of the federal government.”
Michael Hartigan, a spokesman for Tsongas, didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
“It’s time to elect a new representative; a representative who will represent the people and not the special interests, a person who thinks for herself and works for you,” Wofford said in the statement.
Wofford’s official campaign launch will be held at Cobblestones restaurant in Lowell on Tuesday, starting at 7 p.m.
Lowell’s Boott Mill (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.org)
