Ben Sigel: Candidate Profile 4th Congressional District

BROOKLINE, MA — Eight Democrats and two Republicans are vying to represent the Massachusetts 4th Congressional District as Rep. Joe Kennedy leaves to challenge Sen. Ed Markey for his seat in the senate. It's a district that runs from Newton and parts of Brookline, Wellesley and Hopkinton and down to the South Coast.

To get to know the candidates, Patch asked them to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Among those running in the Democratic Primary Sept. 1, is Ben Sigel, 44, was born and raised in Braintree, to Jewish and Latinx parents. He attended Braintree High, then went on to Middlebury College and Spent a year abroad at Hebrew University. He also spent some time at American University for is law and business degrees. He has lived in Brookline since 2003, and this is where he and his wife Gabrielle are raising their four children, Harrison, 14, Siona, 12, Vivienne,10, and Francesca, 5.

Sigel is the president of the Hispanic National Bar Association for New England, and has spent the past 20 years involved in over a dozen boards and committees helping to advance the interests of the Latino and Jewish communities. He has worked at Mintz Levin from 2011 to January, most recently as national director of client and community relations - special counsel.

Here's what he had to say about why he's running:

What politicians have inspired you and might you model your time in Congress after?

John Lewis, Martin Frost, Ted Kennedy, Nita Lowey, Nydia Velazquez, and Barack Obama.

How would you summarize your campaign in 3 words?

We The 4th

The single most pressing issue facing our district is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Systemic Racism. We must contain COVID-19 and support and protect our community, especially the most vulnerable.

It starts with passing Paid Family & Medical Leave and making sure ALL Americans have access to high-quality and affordable healthcare. We must also invest in free contact tracing, testing, and the production and equitable distribution of a vaccine. We must also invest in personal protection equipment and support our healthcare and childcare facilities. We must also truly invest in our small businesses, provide unemployment assistance to all our workers, broader consumer protections, national temporary moratorium on evictions and foreclosure, provide student debt relief, support our USPS, and provide support and resources for our education system.

COVID-19 has also further exposed the disparities, inequities and systemic racism in so many of our country’s systems, including in our healthcare, education, criminal justice, housing, food, and transportation systems, and in our environment.

We must eradicate racism in every one of our systems and eliminate the underlying causes of racism in our country:

1. need to elect more diverse leadership who understand the diverse perspectives of their community;
2. teach our youth from the earliest ages that lies, stereotypes and prejudice can turn into hate and worse and teach cultural competency, bias and views it’s training to all our civic, political, business, education and religious leaders;
3. support and protect the voting rights of all Americans, especially those historically disenfranchised; and
4. ensure we complete the Census and not undercount of most vulnerable communities.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

My experience as a diverse leader, who understands the diverse perspectives of the community, racially, economically and geographically.

I am a bridge builder, uniter and connector who has advanced diversity, equity & inclusion for years.

I would be the first Latino ever elected to Congress from Massachusetts and am proud to have recently received the endorsement of BOLD PAC, the campaign arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

I believe I am also the only candidate who has worked in the private, government and non-profit sectors and understands how we need all three sectors to make meaningful change.

We need our next Congressman to be present and represent all 34 cities and towns, and I have shown that I will do that through this campaign. I am the only candidate who has visited all 34 cities and towns in the District. I am the only candidate who has participated in over 20 marches, rallies in protests in over 15 different cities and towns in the District,speaking at the marches in Fall River and Milford.

I am running as the People’s Candidate, and I am proud of the diverse coalition of over 180 community leaders who have endorsed my campaign centered on the people, not special interests, self-funding or wealthy donors. Our approach of “We the 4th” is all about how we all come together to solve the important issues of the day, because we are all stronger when we are united than when we are divided and we are all in this together.

In what way has the current officeholder failed the district? What will you do better?

The candidate wrote "n/a"

I support the following:

Green New Deal, Medicare for all, Healthcare for all, Eliminating the filibuster, The 1619 Project in schools, Transgender troops in the military

I do not support:

Repealing the second amendment.

What should Congress do to help the economy?

In order to help the economy, we must first contain COVID-19.

It starts with passing Paid Family & Medical Leave and making sure ALL Americans have access to high-quality and affordable healthcare.

We must also invest in free contact tracing, testing, and the production and equitable distribution of a vaccine. We must also invest in personal protection equipment and support our healthcare and childcare facilities.

We must also truly invest in our small businesses, provide unemployment assistance to all our workers, ensure broader consumer protections, national temporary moratorium on evictions and foreclosure, provide student debt relief, support our USPS, and provide support and resources for our education system.

Many truly small businesses, especially women and minority owned businesses were left out of the Paycheck Protection Program either because they were ineligible, lacked the proper understanding and information, or lacked the connections and access to the right banks and decision makers. Small businesses comprise over 99.5% of businesses in Massachusetts and over 45% of the workforce. They are the backbone to our economy and community in Massachusetts. I will fight to ensure they do not continue to fall through the cracks and receive proper resources so we can get our economy back on track.

In addition to COVID-19, I have released a full plan for Economic Mobility and Opportunity at https://bensigelforcongress.co...

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

• Fighting for universal and affordable healthcare for EVERYone, including undocumented immigrants
• Working for social and economic justice, including combating climate crisis
• Ensuring equitable access to high-quality public education from early childhood to higher education and adult education
• Increasing economic opportunities to eliminate the inequality gap-Enacting comprehensive and compassionate immigration reform
• Combating the rise of hatred, bigotry, racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in ALL forms against ALL people

What accomplishments would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have served on the boards and committees of over a dozen local, national and global nonprofit organizations in order to help strengthen communities and build relationships and partnerships. I created the Young Jewish Leaders Council under Combined Jewish Philanthropies, which for the first time, brought together all 40+ young Jewish adult organizations in the Greater Boston area to network, collaborate, share best practices, build skills and strengthen the community. I also helped create the young leadership division of the American Jewish Committee – ACCESS – both in Boston and nationally, which launched national Jewish-Latino and Jewish-Muslim taskforces for young adults.

I have proudly served as the President of the Hispanic National Bar Association in New England for the last 22 months, helping advance the interests of the Latino legal community and advocating on issues of importance to Latinos locally and nationally. In addition, I have been instrumental in advancing diversity and inclusion initiatives within Mintz Levin as a member of its Diversity Committee and the Steering Committee for the Minority Attorney Affinity Group, within the broader legal community as a member of the Boston Bar Association’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and within the greater Boston community through such organizations as Get Konnected!

As a result of my dedication and commitment to community building, I have been honored with several awards and recognitions from different nonprofit organizations. Most recently, I was recognized by the Massachusetts Association of Hispanic Attorneys with their Corporate Social Responsibility Award, the National Hispanic Bar Association with the Regional President of the Year Award, and Get Konnected! named him one of the 50 Most Influential Attorneys of Color in Greater Boston and 100 Most Influential People of Color in Boston. Due to my work bridging divisions and unifying communities, I was also recognized by the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts with their K’lal Israel Award and by Combined Jewish Philanthropies with their Ben Gurion Society Leadership, Circle of Excellence, Young Leadership and Chai in the Hub Awards.

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

1) “Rise and Pull” - We must all pull up others as we rise in our personal and professional careers; (2) We are only as strong as the most vulnerable among us; (3) Hate against any one group is hate against all groups

My favorite aspect of this district is...

Its diversity - Geographically, racially, economically, and culturally.

What else would you like voters to know about you and your positions?

I am a proud Jewish father of 4 young children, husband, lawyer, progressive community leader, activist, and Latino.

I am running for Congress because I have the experience to bring our communities together to make real change and ensure that the wheels of justice turn for all of us, not just a privileged few. I believe the foundation of a strong community and ALL its members is access to opportunities. It is what binds us all.

I also realize that we are only as strong as the most vulnerable in our community, and we are unstoppable when each of us lifts up all those around us.

My greatest passion and love are my amazing wife and best friend Gabrielle and my 4 beautiful children – Harrison, Siona, Vivienne and Francesca – who are currently attending public school in Brookline.

Campaign website and social media:

Twitter & Insta: @BenSigel Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bensi...

Website: https://bensigelforcongress.com/

Read more:

• Brookline Attorney Ben Sigel To Run For Congress
• MA 4th Congressional District: Voter Guide

Are you running for office in Brookline? Contact Jenna Fisher at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Brookline Patch.