Chris Zannetos: Candidate Profile 4th Congressional District

BROOKLINE, MA — Nearly a dozen candidates, including nine 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. The 4th Congressional District runs from Newton and parts of Brookline, Wellesley and Hopkinton and down to the South Coast.

To get to know the 4th District candidates, Patch asked candidates 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 tech entrepreneur Chris Zannetos, 57. He's lived in Wellesley for more than 20 years with his wife Jenny and that's where they raised their two children Andrew and Anna. He was born and raised in Massachusetts, and went to both undergrad and graduate school at MIT. In 2016 he cofounded Covered Security and that's what fills his days today.

Here's what he had to say about why he's running [Editors's note, the candidate originally left some of the answers blank, we have updated them with his additions]:

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

A lifelong Democrat, I interned for the late Senator Ted Kennedy, where I learned that with hard work and creativity you can build the common ground necessary to deliver programs for economic and social justice that will benefit everyone.

How would you summarize your campaign in 3 words?

Forward-thinking, results-driven, inclusive

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

Eliminating inequality in all of its forms. I will work to: make sure the new economy benefits everyone, not just the top 10%; create more and better-paying jobs that don't require people to go into debt to obtain a 4-year college degree; and ensure everyone has access to quality healthcare without forcing people to give up the healthcare they like.

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

We all have a very similar stance on social policies, but where we differ is in experience. I am the only candidate running that has successfully created good, well-paying jobs resulting in over $250 million in salaries for MA residents, and have founded an education nonprofit that creates career and educational advancement opportunities for marginalized communities throughout the state. I know how to get things done - that's what I've done with my employees, throughout my career, and that's what I will do in Washington.

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

Rather than critique Joe Kennedy, who I believe has been an effective and honorable representative for our district, I will focus on what I plan to do and what I believe is needed in Congress.

With the economic catastrophe that has come with the pandemic, now more than ever I believe we need people in Washington who understand the technology and economic drivers of inequality.

Having spent my career building technology companies, creating jobs, and working to expand education, I plan to leverage that experience to lead Congress to facilitate the creation of more and better- paying jobs.

I support:

Green New Deal

Medicare for all

Healthcare for all

The 1619 Project in schools

Transgender troops in the military

I do not support:

Eliminating the filibuster

Repealing the Second Amendment

What should Congress do to help the economy?

Implement policies that accelerate the creation of New Collar Jobs and expand the pool of qualified workers to reduce the opportunity inequality, improve income mobility, build back and expand our middle class, and prepare our country and people to succeed in the 21st century.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

There are many other issues that define my campaign platform, given the space available I would highlight Social Justice, climate change, and healthcare as important areas where my approach may differ from other candidates. Social Justice.

We can’t achieve Social Justice without Economic Justice. We must take the current opportunity to eliminate systemic racism from our criminal justice and policing systems, and I strongly support the Justice in Policing Act sponsored by senators Kamala Harris and Corey Booker. We must go further, to eliminate the layer upon layer of obstacles that prevent people of color and people from lower income communities having the same opportunity as others.

Climate Change. The Green New Deal’s promise of job growth while fixing our climate is achievable with the right investments. I believe that we need an “Apollo-moonshot” investment program from our federal government in clean energy, remediation, and conservation technologies and industries. For example, creating incentives to manufacture the wind turbines for the wind farm off our district’s coast here in the US (and our district) rather than import them all from Europe.

Healthcare. Unlike nearly all of the candidates, I am a strong proponent of expanding the Affordable Care Act with a public option, to ensure a quality healthcare safety net available for all who cannot afford healthcare (kicking in immediately upon loss of employment) and provide an option for those who don’t wish to have private insurance. We should not be taking private health insurance away from people who like theirs. Medicare should be able to negotiate drug prices directly, to bring down the price of medicine for all Americans.

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

My father immigrated to the USA with $100 in his pocket and an acceptance to a graduate program at a school that was about to declare bankruptcy. Through the opportunities that America offered him, he was able to build a future for his family.

I'm deeply moved by the set of values I inherited growing up in an immigrant household, and went on to start three successful companies that have created hundreds of well-paying jobs for Massachusetts residents. My philosophy as a leader is that the CEO gets a bonus only when everyone gets a bonus and in tough times you cut the leader’s pay first.

Through these experiences, I learned how to identify problems and bring together a coalition of people to provide innovative win/win solutions. I then applied this approach to the creation of STEMatchMA–a non-profit that brings companies and schools together to make Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math opportunities more accessible to marginalized communities, which has already served more than 600 Boston Public Middle School students.

I also brought together leading Massachusetts financial, healthcare and technology companies to invest $500,000 in time and money to fund a workforce development effort at MassBay Community College to make cybersecurity jobs accessible to those who can’t afford four-year degrees, opening the door to well-paying “new collar jobs” for participants.

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

My father immigrated to the US with almost nothing, working the night-shift in a cardboard manufacturing company to pay for college and eventually, along with my mother, building a great life for our family. He taught me that the most important thing for us to strive for in life is not wealth or fame or power, but to be a “good citizen” – someone who constantly works to make their community a better place. This advice has served me well, and I continue to try to be worthy of it.

My favorite aspect of this district is...

As I’ve biked through every town in our district to talk with small business owners and residents, it’s been inspiring to see how people have come together to help each other.

Even though half of the small businesses I’ve visited were unable to access the federal PPP Loan program because of the complexity created by Congress, they still kept on – with their customers ensuring they had enough business to stay alive.

Whether it was Bella Music Center’s sign on the side of the road in Norton saying “We’ve got this neighbors,” or the owner of the Pearl Restaurant in Taunton opening her restaurant to people sowing masks for those who can’t afford them and allowing a catering company to sell its own food (competing with hers) in the alley next to the restaurant – our people remind us of the approach we need to take to Washington.

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

As you might have noticed, I did not [originally] answer the Yes/No questions above. A number of
the questions were about complex issues that require a more complete answer. So I’d
like to share my thoughts on those areas:

Green New Deal – I strongly support the goals of the Green New Deal, in particular the
goal to fix our climate by investing in clean energy and other areas. I would not vote for
the Green New Deal as currently written in part because it suggests that private health
insurance should not be allowed.

Medicare for All/Healthcare for All – I am a strong proponent of expanding the
Affordable Care Act with a public option, to ensure a quality healthcare safety net
available for all who cannot afford healthcare (kicking in immediately when someone
loses their job) and providing an option for those who don’t wish to have private
insurance. Medicare should be able to negotiate drug prices, to bring down the price of
medicine for all Americans.

Eliminating the filibuster – It is entirely unrealistic to think that this could be achieved
today or in the near future, and trying to do so would only further inflame partisanship.

We need to focus on bringing people together to get things done, and not further
dividing our people.

The 1619 Project in schools – The 1619 Project has been criticized for factual
inaccuracies, but highlights the need to rework our history education to more effectively
and completely address the role that slavery and racism have played in our country’s
history – and the legacy that impacts us today. While the 1619 Project as it stands today
may not be the best vehicle for these educational changes, I believe we need to ensure
American History effectively explains and explores the legacy of slavery.

Repealing the 2nd Amendment – I do not support repealing the 2nd Amendment. We
should spend our efforts driving for agreement to implement universal background
checks (regardless of where the gun is sold) and red flag laws, and ban automatic
weapons and high capacity magazines.

Transgender troops in the military – I support allowing transgender Americans to serve
their country in the military.

Campaign website and social media:

www.chriszforma.com

Read more:

Wellesley's Chris Zannetos Makes Bid For Congress

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.