WORCESTER, Mass. — In Massachusetts’ 2nd Congressional District, Rep. James McGovern (D) is looking to be reelected to a 15th term in the House of Representatives, but his challenger Cornelius Shea (I) is hoping voters give him a chance on Election Day, believing he would bring a fresh perspective to Washington.

Rep. McGovern has won his six most recent reelection bids with at least a 30% cushion, but while most of those races have been against Republicans, Shea has pitched himself as a ‘John F. Kennedy Democrat’ with a platform unbeholden to either major party or special interests.

“I’m basically self-funded. I don’t owe anything when I go down to Washington,” Shea said. “But the people that voted for me, I am going to work hard and I’m going to do what’s right for you, not what’s right for the people, corporations and businesses that gave me money to work for them.”

Days before the election, both candidates cited inflation as a major issue facing Central Massachusetts and the nation, with McGovern adding that while there has been progress, it’s not happening fast enough. He also has been talking with voters about infrastructure, agriculture and the workforce.

“Infrastructure is a big need, and that’s why the infrastructure bill that we passed is so incredibly important,” McGovern said. “I also represent a lot of farms, and we want to make sure we get a farm bill to help support our local farmers…We want to make sure that we protect our union workers, I have a lot of citizens in my district who are members of organized labor. They’re worried about their rights being taken away.”

Shea, a Marine Corps veteran and former Worcester teacher, said he heard quite a bit about inflation during the process of gathering enough signatures to run for office.

“The best place for me to stand out was right outside the grocery stores, because they just got done paying 30% more for their groceries than they did four years ago,” Shea said. “I personally believe these are all self-inflicted wounds…Out-of-control government spending, which the Democrats and progressives want to do. They want to double down on it. They create the problem, they want to fix it.”

McGovern, meanwhile, has also been focused on the impact of the presidential race, expressing concern about what a second Donald Trump presidency could mean for women’s rights, the environment and democracy.

“This is the most consequential election of my lifetime,” McGovern said. “Never before have I felt that our democracy was under threat. I do with Donald Trump. I do with the MAGA extremists. And so we have to fight back.”

Voter turnout for the 2nd Congressional District election during the 2022 midterms was the lowest it had been since 2014, when McGovern was the only candidate on the ballot. As with previous presidential elections, those numbers will likely see a significant rebound.