Neal wins re-election to US House; Cities in 2nd Congressional District go to incumbent.

• Position: NEWS

Byline: Bill Fortier

SPRINGFIELD - Springfield Democrat Richard E. Neal fought off a spirited challenge by Republican newcomer Thomas A. Wesley of Hopedale yesterday to win a 12th term as U.S. representative of the 2nd Congressional District.

With 154 of the 223 precincts in the district reporting, The Associated Press declared Mr. Neal the winner about 10 p.m. About 15 minutes later, the AP showed Mr. Neal leading Mr. Wesley, 78,908 to 47,399, or 62 percent to 38 percent. And at 10:30, Mr. Neal, who was born in Worcester, was carrying Springfield, Northampton, Chicopee and the suburbs surrounding those cities by large margins. In Springfield, for example, Mr. Neal won by nearly 18,000 votes.

Mr. Wesley carried several Central Massachusetts towns, including Charlton, Oxford, Leicester and Upton, but the margins in those communities weren't enough to counteract Mr. Neal's big winning margins in the Western Massachusetts communities in his district.

"We didn't have the bounce that Scott Brown had in the suburbs to make up for the Mr. Neal's margin in the cities," said Mr. Wesley, adding that he had left a message with Mr. Neal's campaign manager Roger Lau.

"We put together a good campaign, a true grass-roots campaign," Mr. Wesley said. "We didn't leave anything on the table."

Mr. Neal, 61, is a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means and chairman of that panel's subcommittee on select revenue measures. Ethics concerns prompted New York Democratic Congressman Charles B. Rangel to vacate his post as House Ways and Means chairman in March. Mr. Neal has said he was interested in becoming chairman of the powerful committee and he would actively pursue the post after the election.

Mr. Neal said he was pleased with the win.

"In this atmosphere, any time that you can get 60 percent of the vote you've got to be gratified," Mr. Neal said last night. "Lazy or ineffective are two words that have never been associated with my name."

Mr. Wesley, 55, a retired U.S. Navy helicopter pilot who has been on unpaid leave of absence as director of strategic planning for Waters Corp. in Milford, was running for office for the first time. He defeated Northampton Republican Jay S. Fleitman in the Sept. 14 primary election, saying the tea party played a prominent role in his decisive win.

Mr. Neal started the election with almost $3 million in his campaign war chest. Mr. Wesley raised and spent more than $100,000.

"We were outspent 20-to-1, but we weren't...