Hey, this is who Ben Jackson is

(Re: “Just who is Benjamin Jackson,” Jan. 4)

To the Editor:

Civility in politics is at an all-time low and vitriol at an all-time high. An example is the recent spate of letters from members of the Unity Democratic Club in the Press. 

The most recent letter, published in the Jan. 4, 2024 edition, started questioning why Ben Jackson would try to unseat the incumbent Democratic district leader, as if only Unity Democrats have the right to challenge incumbents, but they themselves should be immune from challenges. The writer unfairly likens Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz to a closet Republican and implies that Ben Jackson is as well.

For those of you who don’t know Ben Jackson, he is a partner at Cohen Milstein, the law firm perhaps best known for its numerous successful lawsuits on behalf of Democratic members of Congress and progressive causes.

Cohen Milstein is the firm that represented the NAACP, the United Food & Commercial Workers, and the American Federation of Teachers in the lawsuit that successfully blocked Donald Trump’s bid to end the DACA program protecting undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country as children. It is also the firm that recently brought the suit in which President Trump was held not to be entitled to presidential immunity for his actions on Jan. 6.

Simply put, it is not a firm that tolerates giving “radical Republicans a pass.” Ben spends long days fighting corporate fraud and misconduct on behalf of unions.

If standing up to corporate greed isn’t a Democratic Party value, I don’t know what is. The idea that he is a closet Republican is preposterous. Additionally, Ben has been involved in grassroots Democratic Party organizing for over two decades.

In 2016, he ran the party’s national voter assistance and protection hotline system, training and managing a team of hundreds of volunteer lawyers while working for months without pay. He also helped manage the Biden campaign’s voter assistance and protection hotline team.

After briefly attacking Ben, the writer turned her attention to Assemblyman Dinowitz by misleading readers about his X (formerly Twitter) account. The reality is that anyone looking at his account will easily note that almost all the postings are connected to the work he does for our district.

This includes speaking at senior centers, attending school performances, sponsoring shredding events, speaking out against ill-conceived development, securing the Henry Hudson Bridge rebate, stopping a cricket stadium in Van Cortlandt Park or simply posting about his legislation. More recently, many of his postings or repostings have been in support of Israel and calling out antisemitism when appropriate. 

Unfortunately, Ben Jackson’s opponents are part of a political world where if you are not constantly engaged in vicious, personal attacks, especially on Jeff Dinowitz, you are not doing your job.

That’s also how Trump operates. Nasty comments may be what some deem important, but experience tells me it accomplishes nothing.

Weeks ago, Jeff Dinowitz introduced legislation to empower the Board of Elections or the New York state attorney general to remove an insurrectionist from the ballot. Moreover, his statements over the years regarding MAGA and Trump, coupled with his proactive support of Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, make his position abundantly clear.

His and Ben Jackson’s record of progressive activism speaks louder than any misleading letter to the editor could.

Louise Dunbar