David Segal, a cofounder of the progressive activist group Demand Progress, is mounting a congressional campaign in Tuesday’s Rhode Island Democratic primary that highlights his many years of work on issues of economic, social, racial, and environmental justice—alongside his steady support for a foreign policy focused on peace and diplomacy.
But, as will come as no surprise to those who have followed Segal’s activism over the years, he is also delivering a master class in how to expand the debate on issues that are often neglected in political races.
Segal’s blunt advocacy for “policies that protect consumers, workers, and small businesses from corporate monopolies” has won him endorsements from national groups, such as the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Progressive Democrats of America, as well as the Communications Workers of America District 1 union and the Rhode Island Working Families Party. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has hailed the former Providence City Council member and Rhode Island legislator as “a champion in taking on corporate interests [and] breaking up big monopolies,” while Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has praised his “plans to level the economic playing field.”
The endorsements are notable. But Segal still faces an uphill race in a multi-candidate contest that includes Rhode Island General Treasurer Seth Magaziner, who has the backing of the state Democratic Party, many unions, and retiring US Representative Jim Langevin. Magaziner, the son of longtime Democratic policy advisor Ira Magaziner, has won two statewide races and is mounting an energetic campaign this year.
What’s been striking about the contest, however, has been the extent to which Segal has brought monopoly issues to the fore and gotten everyone talking about them. In a recent debate, he did so by focusing on the shortage of baby formula—a big issue in New England and around the country. During the course of his campaign, Segal has illustrated his concerns about corporate abuses by explaining that “the ongoing baby formula price and supply crisis was caused in part because one company, Abbott Laboratories, with 40 percent national market share (and far higher in some states), acted with the sort of impunity that is common to monopolies.”
During last week’s pre-primary debate, Segal spoke about how the company had allowed problems to develop at a major plant that eventually had to shut down. Abbott, he said, “was able to, as powerful interests frequently do, capture their regulators. They were not cracked down upon, so eventually they had to shut the whole thing down and put all of these people in a horrendous experience where they had to worry about whether or not they were able to feed their babies.”
Suddenly, the other candidates were talking about the baby-formula crisis and corporate abuses. That allowed Segal to expand upon his point by declaring, “The regulators were too close with the industry and [they] did not intervene fast enough. And [when] this happens, this replicates across all different portions of the government.”
Again, the other candidates echoed his themes about corporate interests and political corruption—so frequently that the Segal campaign produced an amusing video titled, “David Segal Is Driving the Debate.”
A supporter of Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, Segal has staked out bold positions on a wide range of progressive issues. But his advocacy on monopoly power has been especially attention-grabbing. As his campaign explains:
Corporate concentration has accelerated over recent decades, in nearly every industry that impacts our lives: pharmaceuticals and hospital services, retail, airlines, banking, media, cable and internet provision, and more. Larger corporations have used their power to acquire competitors and drive smaller firms out of business or make it harder for them to sustain themselves.
This has variously led to higher prices, lower quality products and services, the decimation of smaller businesses, and harms to workers. Moreover, this concentration of power and wealth corrodes our democracy. We must stand up to these monopolies, and institute stronger regulations to ensure everyday people, small businesses, and local communities have a chance to thrive.
That’s a vital message and, no matter how Segal finishes Tuesday, he has delivered it in a way that’s got Democrats talking about cracking down on monopolies and the influence of corporate interests on our politics—and on government regulations. The message that we can take away from this race is an important one: There’s a place in our politics for a strong anti-monopoly message.
