Editor’s Note: This post is part of Village14’s ongoing series allowing 1 column from each candidate for Congress in the 4th District. – Bryan
I’m running for Congress to fight for the core Democratic values that are under assault by Donald Trump and his Republican cronies – values I’ve fought for my entire life and values I will not see undermined when I’m your Congresswoman.
Trump and all those doing his bidding are preventing us from making the progress that we need here in the Fourth Congressional District. We need Medicare for All to create a health care system that actually works for people and that people can actually afford. We need reproductive justice. We need an equitable recovery to COVID-19.
As we chart our path forward from the crisis of the Trump Administration, the crisis of COVID-19, and the crisis of racism that has gripped our country for more than 400 years, this district needs a Congresswoman who will provide bold leadership focused on the solutions that will help families. Well, put me in coach, because that’s exactly what I’ve been doing here in Massachusetts for over 20 years – in my roles with Planned Parenthood, alongside Governor Deval Patrick as a member of his senior staff, in partnership with my friend and supporter Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, running the state’s progressive business organization, and on the front lines as a Brookline Select Board Member.
The Fourth District needs a proven progressive fighter – not just someone who says the right things or votes the right way. People here are yearning for someone with the skills and track record to lead the fight against the hate, backwards thinking, and wrong-headed policies coming from Trump and his minions and to move us forward in a way that is fair, just, and inclusive.
I have the right experience, vision and team to be that progressive fighter for the Fourth District. This is a crowded field and there are real differences among the candidates – in what we’ve accomplished, what we stand for, our priorities, and our leadership styles.
I’m one of only a few candidates in the race who has consistently supported core policies that are necessary to make the progress we need, such as Medicare for All, free college and technical school tuition, student debt relief, and defunding the police.
I led the field on transparency by releasing six years of my tax returns and challenged my fellow candidates to do the same nearly two months ago. So far, only three other candidates have followed my lead. I hope the rest of the field will join us as vote-by-mail is starting now or will explain why they are choosing to go the opaque route of Donald Trump.
I’m the only candidate in this race who has built a broad, progressive, grassroots coalition. Our support is powered by the people – not corporate PACs, not the fossil fuel industry, and not personal wealth. We are leading the field in labor support, with endorsements from 21 unions representing more than 260,000 workers, including the SEIU State Council, the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
We’ve also steadily built support from progressive leaders and organizations such as Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, former First Lady Diane Patrick, NARAL, the Coalition for Social Justice and local leaders from across the district, including Chair of the Newton Fair Housing Committee and Former Newton City Councilor Ted Hess-Mahan and former Chair of the Newton Democratic City Committee Shawn Fitzgibbons.
These progressive leaders and organizations are rallying behind me because they know I have 20 years of hard fights under my belt, leading on the issues that matter most to working people. They know there will be many more hard fights waiting for me in Congress but that I’m ready to hit the ground running – with Rep. Pressley and our hard-charging Congressional delegation.
My focus hasn’t changed from the start of the campaign, and neither has my resolve.
Jesse Mermell is a Democrat running for Congress in Massachusetts’ Fourth District. She is a former Brookline Select Board Member, Vice President of External Affairs for Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, Communications Director for Governor Deval Patrick, and President of the Alliance for Business Leadership. You can follow her on Twitter as @jessemermell, Facebook as Jesse Mermell for Congress, Instagram as @jmermell or visit her website at jessemermell.com.
Dear Ms. Mermell, if you are reading this, could you please say what “defund the police” means to you?
I see that you signed a pledge with Defund NPD to be in “constant communication” with activists who want to abolish the police.
Do you believe that lawmakers should abolish law enforcement?
https://mobile.twitter.com/jessemermell/status/1276594862696075265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1276594862696075265%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2Fjessemermell2Fstatus2F1276594862696075265widget%3DTweet
Ms. Mermell,
Can you go into detail about your plan for “free college?” Do you mean that schools should limit the college experience drastically, to something akin to what college looked like 40 years ago? Would you have colleges spend down their endowments to offset tuition? Would you abolish tenure?
What are the three most important steps you would take to accomplish student debt relief? Would you offer some sort of offset for students that took on and paid off large amounts of debt? Would you consider taxing endowments or modified tax exemptions of universities to fund your plans?
In the event that congress remains divide once you take office would your primary goal be to pass performative bills that have no chance of passage, a la Ms. Pressely, or to work across the aisle to solve problems affecting people in your district?
Who were your last two employers? What year did you start and end working for them? What were your titles? Did any of these jobs involve leading people with opposing views?
I will ask same question to every candidate.
Are candidates expected to respond to any questions? How many/long/soon?
Otherwise it could be interpreted as “ignoring residents” if the expectation is not made upfront
This comment is directed at v14 and not Jesse
Love the name dropping of Pressley. On the other hand Trump is your president.
@Bugek – We offered them this space to make their case, how they choose to use it is up to them. I plan to notify them that their post is up and that they have the option to respond to comments if they choose.
@Craig – I don’t know how old you are, but I graduated college 40 years ago and don’t see what you find lacking in the comparison. Yes, our dorms and gyms weren’t as fancy because applicants weren’t judging schools on how luxurious they were, but I had as much choice of courses and extracurriculars as my son did a few years ago.
Perhaps you’re off by a couple of decades and meant to refer to the 1950s?
To me “defunding the police” disqualifies a candidate. One eliminated.
I anticipate that some candidates will answer questions here and some will not. But if any choose not to answer polite questions here, that bodes poorly for their service in Congress. Don’t expect such candidates to answer letters from constituents.
I’m a supporter of Jesse and have been from the start. I worked with her when she ran the Alliance for Business Leadership and I worked as the Director of the N-Squared project. I saw her leadership first hand, not only in working with some very interesting people within the business world, but also bringing together lesser-heard voices in regional discussions around transportation and housing.
She’s also one of the rare people who not only talks about public transportation, but USES it daily. She prioritizes walking and public transportation in her own life, helping her experience that which she’s fighting for.
But what was most impressive to me is where and how she grew up. I know the area of Pennsylvania that she’s from because my in-laws live there. It’s an area that supported Obama and then turned to support Trump. Trump supporters aren’t an abstraction to her, but they’re people who remain in her life.
This area flipped not because the people don’t know any better, but because they’re hurting and they wanted change. They wanted a leader who promised something different, and it’s an area that is more closely related to Taunton and Fall River than it is to Brookline and Newton. To me, this gives her great insight into the diversity of needs within this very unusual district.
One final note: her relationship with Pressley goes back years. While most of the state first noticed Pressley when she ran against Capuano, Jesse has been working with her for a very long time and was one of the first to congratulate Pressley on the win; she was standing there when Pressely saw the returns. So this isn’t just “name dropping,” it’s a deep relationship that can truly help the state move forward.
Meredith, I’m not referring as much to dorms and gyms but layers of diversity administrators (check out the University of Michigan for a prime example), as well as whole swaths of courses that are well outside STEM or Humanities.
If students want an Oberlin or Middlebury experience that is totally fine – they can pay retail with no consideration of tuition or loan abatements. However once you plan to use significant public money to pay for the college experience, the public should weigh in fully on what that experience looks like.
I would add that the trends I speak of above are not unrelated to the phenomenon of major candidates for extremely important house districts pledging to “defund the police.”
Plot twist: Shirley Leung, associate editor at the Boston Globe, endorses Mermel, not Auchincloss.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/08/06/business/jesse-mermell-not-jake-auchincloss-is-right-choice-congress/?outputType=amp&__twitter_impression=true
Interesting times!
Shirley Leung that is funny. She lives where? I can’t read article due to firewall.
I don’t know one person in my entire long life that cast a vote based off what a columnist or paper suggested. Wonder who Cullen is endorsing.
Jesse,
In your opinion, what 4 income tax rates should a family of 4 pay with the following hypothetical annual incomes:
100k
150k
250k
500k
Straight forward question, appreciate a straight forward answer.
@Bugek, I think that is a terrific question. But it’s not so straightforward. For clarity, do you mean highest (marginal) tax bracket for each of those families (what is usually quoted) or do you mean average tax rate (what really matters)? And do you mean federal income tax, not including state income tax?
Ms. Mermell says she’s in favor of “defunding the police”. No explanation, no ifs, no buts. No “reconsider roles and budgets”. No “not all cops are bad”. Not getting my vote!
I can attest that our current congressman doesn’t answer or even acknowledge letters from constituents, so that wouldn’t be much of a change.
Regardless, each of the individuals asking questions above are either Republicans or fervent Auchincloss supporters with no intention of voting for any of the other Democratic candidates, so taking the time to respond to these questions is about as useful as Auchincloss wasting his time responding to questions from me.
And some of the questions (e.g. Who were your last two employers? What year did you start and end working for them? What were your titles?) are ones to which anyone can find the answer.
@Bugek, that strikes me as a strange question given the structure of our tax system. You’re only interested in the nominal rates, without any insight into deductions, the treatment of different types of income, tax credits, etc.?
Jesses
In your opinion, assuming a family of 4 with the 4 incomes below, with zero tax deductions(keeping it simple). How much federal tax should each pay?
100k
150k
250k
500k
This election for her is about getting her name out. She knows she has no chance. She wants a high level job with the Polito Admin when Parker decides not to run.
Michael,
It betrays a lot that you believe questions like “what do you mean by defunding the police” are unanswerable. They obviously are, but you aren’t supposed to give up the game that easily.
@Fred: Huh? By Parker I assume you mean Baker, but the Polito admin? She was already the Comms Director for Gov. Patrick, and she’s a Democrat. If she worked for any administration it would be Biden’s…
Hi everyone, thank you for reading this and for your questions. I will try to answer as many as possible. If you have follow up questions, please email us at [email protected].
On defunding the police: It’s clear that there is deep, systemic racism in the United States and that permeates through too much of law enforcement in our country. A systemic problem requires systemic changes.
In Congress, I will advocate for the reallocation of federal funding from policing and incarceration to education, housing, building open spaces in our community, mental health services, and community-based solutions, especially in Black and Brown communities that have been disproportionately targeted by police brutality, mass incarceration, and crime. I’m one of only a few candidates who signed Defund Newton Police Department’s Refunding Community Safety pledge committing to doing just that. I think starting with a 1 percent re-allocation of the Newton Police Department budget was not too much to ask and disagree with my colleagues in this race who refused to approve such a small reduction when it came before the City Council recently.
There are other important steps we must take as well, including ending qualified immunity and banning chokeholds, tear gas, no-knock warrants, stop-and-frisk, and “broken windows” policing.
We also need to acknowledge that systemic racism exists far beyond law enforcement – including the criminal legal system, housing, education, transportation, health care and much more. In Congress, I will look at every issue through the lens of equity.
On college tuition/student debt: With tens of millions of Americans carrying more than $1.5 trillion in college debt and increasing every day, it’s time to do something bold and progressive – for these individuals, for our future and for a fairer economy. I support free tuition at two- and four-year public colleges, community colleges, and technical schools which can be funded through a wealth tax.
We must give students debt relief immediately. For those who are currently strapped with debt, I’ll work to provide relief with all the possible tools available, including loan forgiveness, providing critical oversight on interest rates, and streamlining the loan refinancing process. We need to provide debt relief immediately, especially during and after the devastating COVID-19 pandemic.
I’ll also fight Betsy DeVos’ efforts to block students from getting the debt relief they deserve and fight the growth of predatory, for-profit colleges that take advantage of vulnerable students and leave them drowning in debt. I will work to ensure that financial aid applications, including the FAFSA system, are made more accessible to all students and families.
I have a 20-year record of delivering bold, progressive change for the people of Massachusetts – Paid Family and Medical Leave, equal pay, a $15 minimum wage, the ACCESS law and much more – and I will do the same in Congress.
On past positions and collaboration: I was the President of the Alliance for Business Leadership, the progressive business organization in Massachusetts from 2015 until I decided to run for Congress last fall. Before that, I was the Communications Director for Governor Deval Patrick from 2013-2015. In all of my positions, I’ve built coalitions to deliver bold, progressive results for the people of Massachusetts. One example is while leading the Alliance for Business Leadership, I was one of eight people who negotiated what is now the strongest Paid Family and Medical Leave law in the country. While I stood on the side of workers and the progressive community, I worked with representatives from more conservative groups in the business community over many months to find where we could agree, where we couldn’t agree, and where we could compromise. The result was a bold, progressive piece of legislation that is good for workers, for families, for business and for the economy.
On tax system: I believe we need to build a fair economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. That means ensuring that the wealthy pay their fair share. I’ve been a long time supporter of the Fair Share amendment in Massachusetts – and in Congress, I’ll work to reverse Trump’s tax cuts, pass a wealth tax and close corporate loopholes.
Jesse
How much will taxes increase or decrease for a family of 4 making the following
100k
150k
250k
500k
are there enough “rich” people to tax to fund the programs you want?
20 year record??? So at age twenty, what exactly were you doing that had any significant impact on society?
Excerpt from Jess Mermell pledge to Defund NPD:
“I will hold myself accountable … working to be in constant and honest communication with local defund and abolition activists.”
“Signed,
Jesse Mermell”
That’s right, activists who want to ABOLISH our police.
See the photo here:
https://mobile.twitter.com/jessemermell/status/1276594862696075265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1276594862696075265%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2Fjessemermell2Fstatus2F1276594862696075265widget%3DTweet
Full Credit to Jesse for responding to the comments. As an undecided voter, thank you.
M. Singer, she said she would have honest and constant convos with the defunders and abolishers. There is nothing wrong with that. Heck, I was a Libertarian for many years and I think it’s important to talk to all groups with legitimate interests: Remember when Hillary said she wouldn’t talk to Putin?
@James, I think there is something terribly wrong with a member of Congress promising to stay in “constant” contact with police-abolishing activists:
First, “constant” contact with activists will take precious time away from the needs of ordinary constituents.
Second, no society has ever ABOLISHED the police, and for good reason: it is a patently dangerous and ill-considered idea. It’s easy for rich kids in low-crime Newton to think we can have a police-free Utopia. Nobody in high-crime areas wants to abolish the police.
Third, if a candidate is willing to sign extreme pledges like this to gather votes from a fringe Twitter group, what do they really stand for?
Michael Singer,
At least she is being honest, those who wish to abolish the police will at least have a clear candidate to choose.
Fred Knowles. What gives you, me or anyone else the right to judge how significant a person’s contribution to society is at any age or any circumstance??
Jesse is not my first choice, but her post here and her dignified responses to some very cheap shots show class, commitment and leadership. She is head and shoulders above all her detractors.
M. Singer – Agreed. I think ‘constant’ is the wrong word here. To play devil’s advocate, she may just mean keep an open line of communication, which I think is absolutely fine. Even if they are a fringe group, they should be listened to, at a minimum so they don’t resort to more destructive behavior to gain attention. That goes for all groups.
It’s a bit of a strawman to label the defund the police movement as those wanting to abolish the police. The vast majority seem to want checks on the police, and/or reduced funding. And let’s be very clear, the concept of a strong and respectful police force should never be taken for granted, ask those who come from 3rd world countries. But those who have lots of power should always be kept a close eye on, just look at the state police and environmental police overtime scandal.
“Defund the Police” is like the “New Coke” of social branding. Catchy, but it’s intention gets very lost in the translation. That said…
I still remember to this day something my 6th grade teacher (Mr. John Bossange at the Pierce School in Brookline, and one of my faves) said in a social studies lesson, “the best form of government is a benevolent dictator”.
No single canidate is going to check off every box on every voter’s list. And while I do not agree with her on defund, over the past few weeks of listening to debates – formal debates as well as those with friends and online – Jesse checks off more boxes than most for me. Wishing you the best Ms. Mermell. You have my vote.