| David Adam Segal | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives from the 2nd district |
|
| In office 2 January 2007 – 4 January 2011 |
|
| Preceded by | Paul Moura |
| Succeeded by | Christopher R. Blazejewski |
| Member of the Providence City Council from Ward 1 | |
| In office 2002–2006 |
|
| Preceded by | Robert Clarkin |
| Succeeded by | Seth Yurdin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 25, 1979 Washington, D.C. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Residence | Fox Point, Providence, Rhode Island |
| Alma mater | Columbia University (B.A.) |
| Profession | Educator, Journalist |
| Religion | Jewish |
| Website | http://segalforcongress.com |
David Adam Segal (born November 25, 1979) is an American politician who was a Democratic member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives, representing District 2 (East Providence and Providence) from 2006 until January 2011. Segal was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in the state's 1st congressional district on 14 September 2010.[1] He serves as the executive director of the online organizing group Demand Progress, whose nearly one million members work to promote civil liberties, Internet freedom, civil rights, and government reform.
Contents |
Segal was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Maryland. His father, Herman Benjamin Segal, is a cardiologist originally from Portland, Maine, and his mother, Andrea Leonard-Segal, is a rheumatologist working for the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. All four of his grandparents were Eastern European Jews who immigrated to the United States during the 1920s.
Segal graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of arts in mathematics from Columbia University in 2001. Having spent time in Providence, Segal decided to relocate there during the summer of 2001, and that fall began a position at the Wheeler School as an instructor, teaching assistant, and tutor. His has been as an analyst for FairVote, and a researcher and paralegal for a consumer rights attorney. Segal is active in the Progressive States Network, and is a contributor to the Rhode Island political blog, Rhode Island's Future. In 2007, he co-founded the arts, culture, and activism blog, Providence Daily Dose.
Segal's political career began in 2002, following his work as activist in support of a living-wage ordinance and a civilian review board to review accusations of police abuse. Segal ran as a Green for the Providence City Council and was elected to the Providence City Council, representing Ward One, with approximately 38% of the vote in a four-way general election. Segal was the first member of the Green Party to hold public office in Rhode Island and one of the youngest.
As City Council Minority Leader, Segal worked to pass legislation promoting social justice, affordable housing, and civil liberties. Segal pushed Providence to become the first state capital in the Union to commit to using large sums of renewable energy, and to become the first city to divest from the Darfur genocide.
Segal was chairman and founder of the federal political action committee Greens for Impact which helped steer the Green Party to endorse David Cobb rather than Ralph Nader, and ran a national media and direct-mail campaign in 2004, encouraging Greens and progressives in swing states to fight the re-election of George W. Bush by voting for John Kerry, and promoting electoral reform.
Following a party switch to the Democratic Party, Segal won the party primary election for state representative in Rhode Island House District 2 with 68.5 percent of the vote on September 12, 2006. Segal faced no partisan opposition on the November 7, 2006, state general election.[2] Segal was re-elected in 2008, again winning 68.4% of the Democratic primary vote.[3]
During his tenure in the Rhode Island House of Representatives, Segal was a member of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee as well as the Judiciary Committee. He previously served on the Corporations Committee. He has sponsored and overseen the passage of legislation promoting renewable energy and public transit, reform of the criminal justice system, progressive taxation, maintenance of social services, equitable school funding, and more. He was secretary of the House of Representatives' progressive caucus during the 2009-2010 sessions. The Providence Phoenix declared him "The Hippest Guy in State Government".[4]
Segal ran for Congress in the 2010 elections for the Rhode Island First Congressional District seat being vacated by Patrick Kennedy. Segal lost in the four-way 14 September 2010 Democratic Party Primary to David Cicilline,[5] garnering over 20% of the vote.