Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Zak Ringelstein is running an unorthodox campaign — he’s not accepting money from corporations, political action committees or the fossil fuel industry.
There’s little else conventional about Ringelstein, who once dabbled with the idea of becoming a country music singer. At 32, he has worked as a public school teacher and been a successful entrepreneur. He’s also the only Senate candidate in the country to receive an endorsement from the Democratic Socialists of America.
He doesn’t have the money to advertise widely on TV, so Zak Ringelstein is using social media messages to help spread his vision.
“We’re done fighting for scraps and letting the rich rig the system. It’s time to start fighting for everything we deserve as the workers in the state,” he says in one.
Whether it’s political leaders’ failure to take bold action on climate change, raising teacher salaries to at least $60,000 a year or providing health care coverage for everyone, Ringelstein says the issues that matter to the working class aren’t getting their due.
He’d challenge the status quo, Ringelstein says, tax the wealthy, and try to rebuild the Democratic party by patterning himself after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to create a new New Deal.
“FDR talked a lot about freedom from want, and I fundamentally believe that the richest country in the world has the opportunity to make sure that every single person has a roof over their head, has food on the table, has health care, has a great education so that they can live the American dream. Right now about half of our country can’t afford a $400 emergency. That’s ridiculous,” he says.
Earlier this month at the Fryeburg Fair, Ringelstein did what he says he enjoys most, shaking hands with voters and trying to make a connection. He has an uphill battle against popular independent incumbent Sen. Angus King and Republican state Sen. Eric Brakey, but Ringelstein’s progressive values are appealing to some voters.
“I am supporting Zak for Senate. I like that he’s young. He’s fresh and he’s got great ideas. I want health care, single payer, taxing the rich,” says Joey Robichaud, a Democrat from South Paris who asked Ringelstein to pose for a picture. “It’s become all about money and not running on the issues.”
And around the corner just a few minutes later, Ringelstein crosses paths with Tom McKenna of Portland.
“You got my vote, man. I’m all about you,” says McKenna, who is canvassing for independent gubernatorial candidate Terry Hayes. “I really haven’t supported many politicians because I feel the game is rigged against us. But things are developing poorly in America, so we need all the help we can get, and people like Zak and Terry are promising, so it’s a good start.”
Growing up in New Hampshire, Ringelstein says his family struggled financially, and he qualified for free or reduced lunch in school. His father was a social worker and his mother worked as a waitress. After high school, he successfully pursued an undergraduate degree at Columbia, went on to get a master’s and became a public school teacher.
Along the way he met his future wife, Leah. Together they started a successful tech company called UClass that helped teachers find and share resources. But Ringelstein says there was a dark side to the venture.
“It was a for-profit business, and I saw the other side of capitalism, the way that at this point stockholders matter more than workers,” he says.
When Ringelstein sold the company for an undisclosed price at the age of 28, he was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list and was able to pay off his student loans. But his attitude about income disparity had been shaped, he says, after being a teacher and watching students and their families struggle to get basic needs met.
That’s one of the reasons he’s the only U.S. Senate candidate endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, which is not a party but a political organization.
“They’re trying to get money out of politics. They’re trying to get Medicare For All, trying to get public schools the cornerstone of the American dream by raising teacher salaries, trying to create a green New Deal, save the planet and create higher wage jobs, all the things that people want and that would be happening if we were truly representative and money was out of politics,” he says.
University of Southern Maine political science professor Ron Schmidt says it’s difficult to imagine getting money out of campaigns so close to the 2010 landmark Supreme Court decision Citizens’ United, which removed limits on independent expenditures by corporations and unions on political ads. But Schmidt says the idea of reviving FDR’s New Deal is something that could appeal to younger voters who aren’t put off by the traditional notion of socialism.
“The problem for Democrats is that older voters are much more likely to show up at the polls, especially in a midterm election,” he says.
The challenge for Ringelstein is not only to reach younger voters but to convince them that they could change the political world if they would turn out on Election Day.
Originally published Oct. 22, 2018 at 4:27 p.m. ET.
