H eadlines
Ben Waxman Announces State Rep Candidacy
process,” Albert said.

Right now,
though, Waxman’s focus is not policy.

It’s getting elected.

He doesn’t know who he’s
running against or if he has the
support of the local Democratic
Party. He does say that he has
a significant amount of grass-
roots support.

Waxman has
already gotten donations from more
than 130 people and he has a
team of volunteers ready to go
door-to-door. In a local, low-profile race,
L OCA L
JARRAD SAFFREN | JE STAFF
BEN WAXMAN HAS lived in
Center City for 10 years.

He has unofficially repre-
sented his neighbors to
local government as part of
the Center City Residents’
Association. And he has
advocated for his neighbors
in various official roles, too,
including in communications
positions with Pennsylvania
Sen. Vincent Hughes and
Philadelphia District Attorney
Larry Krasner.

Now, though, the longtime
activist doesn’t just want to
represent his fellow residents.

He wants to be their
representative. On Nov. 3, Waxman
announced his campaign for
a seat in the state House of
Representatives. The Springfield Township
High School (Montgomery
County) graduate will first have
to win the Democratic Primary
in May. But if he does, he will
run for the District 182 seat,
which represents Center City,
in the November 2022 election.

Waxman calls himself a
progressive and is committed
to a social justice worldview. He
led Krasner’s communications
team from 2018-’19 because he
wanted to help the DA work on
sentencing reforms.

But the Conservative Jew,
who keeps kosher in the home
and belongs to Temple Beth
Zion-Beth Israel, is running
because he wants to work on
practical, everyday issues.

Waxman said he wants to
help the state end the pandemic
and reinvigorate the economy.

He views Republicans as a threat
to that first initiative and hopes
to defend a Democratic seat.

Rep. Brian K. Sims represents
the district but is not running
for reelection.

“We’re in a crisis situa-
tion, especially when you have
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Ben Waxman 
Waxman knows he needs an
army on the ground. But his
campaign plan is both digital
and physical.

He wants to use Facebook,
Twitter and his website to keep
building a team of volunteers
and donors. Then he plans on
talking to as many Center City
neighbors as he can.

“It’s local, so you can almost
talk to everyone,” Waxman
said. l
jsaffren@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
Courtesy of Steve Springer
What can we do so the economy recovers?
What can we do so Center City recovers?”
BEN WAXMAN
Republicans in Harrisburg
who are resisting public health
measures,” Waxman said.

Waxman, though,
is announcing his campaign at a
time when COVID case, hospi-
talization and death rates are
declining. So if he wins, by the
time he takes office in 2023,
he hopes to be focusing on the
post-COVID recovery.

As Waxman’s friend and
neighbor Wade Albert put it,
Center City is the “financial
engine of Southeastern PA.”
And right now, there are too
many retail vacancies, Waxman
said. “We’ve lost stores on almost
every block,” he said.

Waxman wants to use public
investment to help the state
economy recover. That way, the
local economy can rebound,
too. He said, “There’s a vibrancy
that only exists if there’s a lot
of people here.” He envisions
blocks full of shoppers and
people going out to eat.

“What can we do so the
economy recovers?” Waxman
asked. “What can we do so
Center City recovers?”
If elected, Waxman would
represent an important district,
but he would just be one vote in
a 203-member body.

Yet he’s confident he
can make an impact in
the Democratic
caucus. Republicans still have a house
majority and General Assembly
control in Pennsylvania.

But House Democrats, led
by Minority Leader Joanna
McClinton, are increasingly
progressive, Waxman said.

Waxman describes a House
seat as the political position
he’s most qualified to hold.

He worked in the Senate for
five years, focusing on the
Appropriations Committee. So,
he’s intimately familiar with
how the government decides to
spend its money.

Albert said Waxman was
an integral part of the budget
process during his earlier years
in Harrisburg as well.

“There’s always a place for
minority voices to be heard
in connection to the budget
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