Republican Challenger Attacks Rep. Miceli's Voting Record

TEWKSBURY, MA -- Republican Pina Prinzivalli continued her steady stream of press releases attacking Rep. James R. Miceli (D-Wilmington) this week. On Thursday, she issued a release marking the one-year anniversary of Miceli and other state lawmakers voting to give themselves pay raises.

As part of the release, Prinzivalli vowed to never vote to give herself a pay raise if she defeats Miceli in November's election. She also said if lawmakers pass an increase of their base salary while she is in office, she will donate the increase to local charities.

"I’m not running to be a career politician who seeks financial perks for myself off the backs of working families in Massachusetts," Prinzivalli, of Tewksbury, said.

Miceli has held the seat for more than 40 years, but Prinzivalli has been aggressively promoting herself as an upstart candidate that operates outside the traditional Beacon Hill network of entrenched politicians. The release comes after a week when letter writers to local newspapers in Wilmington and Tewksbury -- the two towns the seat represents -- debated whether or not Miceli had missed too many votes.

That debate stems from a November 17 Lowell Sun article, which said Miceli had been casting votes from his office as he recovered from a hip replacement.

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Patch file photo of Pina Prinzivalli.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).