I said, watch what you say or they’ll be calling you unethical. (created via images from puppolo.com & Facebook/Lachenmeyer campaign)

The primary challenges to incumbent Democrats in Western Mass are heating up as candidates battle for attention and votes. Yet summertime activities, not the September 1 primary, are front of mind for most voters in the 413. In Springfield, fthe latest back-and-forth in one race comes amid waves of ethical finger-pointing at City Hall and discontent with many incumbent Democrats nationally.

Michael Lachenmeyer, an educator and activist, has accused his opponent, Springfield State Rep Angelo Puppolo, of failing to properly disclose information on his statement of financial interest (SFI). It is part of a broader push to paint the incumbent as a paradigm of Beacon Hill inertia and corruption, a charge Puppolo vehemently denies.

“Those entrusted with making our laws must be held to the highest standards of compliance and accountability. Voters deserve nothing less,” Lachenmeyer said in his release. Noting Puppolo’s long-tenure—he was first elected to the House in 2006—the challenger said this was “not a rookie mistake.”

Lachenmeyer’s campaign released an analysis that claims Puppolo’s SFIs from 2018 to 2024 omitted information about financial assets and misstated his outside earnings. It also implied that he was earning that outside income during times he may have had a reason to be in Boston.

The race in the 12^th Hampden district that Puppolo currently occupies is one of four against incumbents in Western Mass. Other reps from North Adams to Springfield are facing credible challenges from sitting elected officials to prominent politicos.

Lachenmeyer, a Wilbraham native who now lives in Springfield, had worked on several campaigns during and after college. In 2020, he interned for WMP&I. Lachenmeyer has not run for office before. This in contrast to other primary challengers in Western Mass who hold office or have appeared on a ballot before as in the case of the abutting 11th Hampden. Both of Rep Bud Williams’s opponents, Nicole Coakley and Johnnie McKnight have sought office in the past.

Puppolo’s camp hinted at such a lower profile in its pushback to the challenger’s claims.

“This a candidate trying to make a name for himself by constantly smearing and attacking his opponent. These kinds of superficial tactics don’t enlighten the voter; they just reek of politics as usual,” said Paul Robbins, a spokesperson for the Puppolo campaign. “We expect more of this in the weeks to come. The constituents Representative Puppolo serves understand this and they know his focus is entirely on them.”

The 12^th Hampden District includes Wilbraham, northerly chunks of East Longmeadow and Monson and much of the Boston Road, East Forest Park and 16 Acres neighborhoods of Springfield.

The 12th Hampden is in teal. (via malegislature.gov)

Legislators and candidates for the legislature are obligated to file SFIs. The obligation only extends to when they are running and/or in office.

State law does not extend disclosure laws to candidates for city or town office. Yet, Springfield has seen a huge flare-up of ethics accusations. Those began with City Council President Tracye Whitfield’s involvement with a matter that affected a company she was an officer from. (She denied intentional wrong-doing and resigned her offices with the business.) Although Whitfield was apologetic, her allies were not shy about leveling accusations against her apparent antagonists.

Lachenmeyer’s allegations focus on two main points. The first is that Puppolo failed to properly disclose information about companies in which he had an interest. Specifically, he allegedly left out descriptions of the asset, the company’s operating address and its address of incorporation. By Lachenmeyer’s reckoning, that amounts to more than 80% of the information missing for this section of the SFIs.

Bienvenidos a Wal-Mart (stock ownership) (via Wikipedia)

Pupplo’s SFIs from 2018 to 2025 show he holds interest in a wide range of companies from McDonald’s to Wal-Mart’s Mexican subsidiary and various funds. Most of these assets appear relatively stable over the range of SFIs at issue. Some of the most prominent changes over time are actually companies’ evolution like CBS Corp’s becoming Paramount Skydance. Plainly, some information, especially about some of the well-known companies and a few lesser-known funds, is not on the SFI.

Lachenmeyer himself has four funds on his SFI for 2025. They all appear to be funds that the Vanguard Group, an investment company, manages. Details for two of the Malvern, Pennsylvania-based firm are filled in. Another two are not.

The challenger told WMP&I that occurred while filling out his form. He said the system allowed him to enter information for the two with information but not the other two, at least not without some kind of manual override.

A spokesman for the body told WMP&I that the system has a “type-ahead” list that auto-populates commonly-traded securities. The additional information is necessary if the securities is not such a stock.

“If a filer when they start typing the name of a stock see it pop up on the list of approximately 5,000 publicly traded stocks in the SFI system and they select it off the list, then the only other information they need to provide in that Question is if they owned it with their spouse and/or any dependent child(ren) who resided in their household during the filing year,” the Commission spokesperson said in an email.

The release also charges that Puppolo failed to properly disclose his income from Westfield State University(WSU). Filers do not need to state their exact income from other public entities, but they must select a range.

Lachenmeyer provided a grid of classes that Puppolo taught—mostly pertaining to state and local government or courts and politics—at WSU. It included details about when the course was taught and what Puppolo earned from teaching the class. WSU did not respond to a request to confirm these details.

Only 99 miles by zeppelin from Westfield State to Beacon Hill. (via Wikipedia)

However, the Commonwealth maintains a public database of all monies paid to individuals called CTHRU. Its data on WSU’s payments to Puppolo is roughly if not perfectly consistent with Lachenmeyer’s numbers. Even to the extent there are inaccuracies, Puppolo’s reports can be compared to CTHRU’s numbers.

To that end, Puppolo may have made some errors. For example, in 2024 Puppolo earned $40,565 teaching at WSU. He reported making between $20,000 and $40,000. In 2018, he made $15,543 and also reported a range of $20,000 to $40,000. Lachenmeyer also identified a problem with 2021, but it was unclear what that was.

Intentional misrepresentations on an SFI carry a potential fine of $10,00 per offense.

A more potent critique may not technically violate state ethics laws, though. Because elected officials are always on the clock—or never off—they do not have the exact same restrictions about engaging in other activities during working hours absent use of state resources. However, where the Ethics Commission lacks jurisdiction, the court of public opinion can always intervene.

Puppolo’s classes apparently occur on days of the week that committees and the House meet. The House usually convenes by 11:00AM when it is in session. Puppolo’s Tuesday/Thursday classes could conflict with any House activities as it would be impossible to reach Boston before mid- afternoon.

“If Representative Puppolo was unable to fully participate in the committee work assigned to him, voters deserve to know what impact those scheduling conflicts had on his ability to represent their interests and fulfill his legislative responsibilities,” Lachenmeyer said in his release.

A direct comparison of Puppolo’s classes and legislative calendar was not immediately possible. The House’s Tuesday and Thursday sessions are often informal, meaning that most action passes by voice vote and usually not all reps need to attend. A full calendar of his committees’ meetings going back to 2018 was not immediately available.

The accusations Lachenmeyer leveled against the incumbent are only the most recent. He has also claimed Puppolo sided with polluters and against organized labor. It is part of an effort to harness the discontent aimed at many longtime Democratic incumbents. Whether it is enough to topple Puppolo remains to be seen.