Mitchell Siegel
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Mitchell Siegel (Democratic Party) ran for election to the South Carolina House of Representatives to represent District 118. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Siegel completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Mitchell Siegel was born in Brooklyn, New York. He earned a master's degree from SUNY College Buffalo, Cambridge College in 1992. Before retiring, Siegel worked as a healthcare consultant. He has served as a member of Lowcountry Indivisible and as treasure for Lowcounty PRIDE.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: South Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 118
Incumbent Bill Herbkersman defeated Mitchell Siegel in the general election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 118 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Bill Herbkersman (R) | 61.7 | 16,947 |
 | Mitchell Siegel (D)  | 38.2 | 10,493 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 16 | ||
| Total votes: 27,456 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Mitchell Siegel advanced from the Democratic primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 118.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 118
Incumbent Bill Herbkersman defeated Mike Covert in the Republican primary for South Carolina House of Representatives District 118 on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bill Herbkersman | 61.8 | 3,456 |
 | Mike Covert | 38.2 | 2,134 | |
| Total votes: 5,590 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Mitchell Siegel completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Siegel's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
Mitch is a progressive Democrat who has been working tirelessly to organize other progressives in his area. Mitch has served as the Board Chair for the local Indivisible chapter, who focuses on both Federal and State level issues and initiatives. Mitch is a support of comprehensive Educational reform, expansion of Healthcare / Medicaid, and access to jobs and housing via the development of the Jasper Ocean Terminal.
- Education must be addressed by the Legislature, we can't continue to kick this problem down the road.
- Covid-19 has taught us that healthcare access needs to be universal, not tied to job status. Expand Medicaid Now
- Economic access, access to Jobs, access to housing for all.
Healthcare access, from the provider, patient, as well as insurer side.
Development of the Jasper Ocean Terminal to augment the Port of Savannah, which will bring much needed higher paying jobs to South Carolina. Additionally, as the Jasper Ocean Terminal is developed in raw land, we have the opportunity to plan development, to plan infrastructure, roads, homes, schools, water permeability, etc..
Development of the Jasper Ocean Terminal to augment the Port of Savannah, which will bring much needed higher paying jobs to South Carolina. Additionally, as the Jasper Ocean Terminal is developed in raw land, we have the opportunity to plan development, to plan infrastructure, roads, homes, schools, water permeability, etc..
Mitt Romney and it is for one simple reason. He instituted universal healthcare coverage for Massachusetts residents. His program became the model for what would later become the Affordable Care Act. I spent one year working for the Commonwealth Health Care Connector Agency, as a Manager in the customer service center. The Commonwealth Health Care Connector Agency administers to this day, Healthcare programs in Massachusetts and acts as the portal to healthcare programs.
Willing to listen without critiquing a constituent. Willing to ask probing questions to understand what is actually being asked for and how to look for an answer. Being open and willing to hear and empathize with constituents and fellow legislators and changing one's view and opinion if there are compelling reason. Additionally, since any legislative seat belongs to the constituents and not the legislator, it behooves a legislator to listen and heed the wishes and thoughts of their district.
I spent 15 years as a Healthcare Project manager, in that position I dealt with all members of the C-Suites at the institutions where i consulted. I learned to listen to their requirements, learned how to tease out their requirements if not openly stated, learned to deliver news back to the C-Suite, regardless of whether the news was good or bad. Learned to "herd cats" in order to move projects forward.
Honesty, willingness to listen, ability to see and analyze positions from multiple angles and to make a sound judgement based on your values and those of your district.
Sitting on my father's shoulder, watching cars drive by and hearing him say that the man in the car we were watching would be President someday. That man was John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who went on win the Presidency. I was four years old at the time of the motorcade.
My first job was as a waiter in the catering facility at my college campus. It was a work study position and I held that job for Freshman year. My first post college job was as a sales person at a department store in NY, selling Backgammon, Chess Sets, Pachinko machines. I held this position for six months and then went back to colleg.
Growing up as a latch-key kid in the 60s. My mother had to go back to work because of crushing medical bills that almost bankrupted our family. This was a source of adversity that taught me how to set priorities early in life.
In South Carolina, the big differences between the chambers are the term length of the chambers. THe House of Reps is two years, the Senate is four years. House Representatives are elected along with COngressional House Representatives. Senators are elected on the same schedule as Presidential elections.
While it may have benefit for state legislators to have previous experience, it should not be a gating factor for any candidate. We don't want to be in a position where our legislators are career legislators. We want a rolling wave of new faces and new ideas coming into government. We should encourage not political residents to run for office. As South Carolina is a part time legislature, our legislators need to have outside careers or to have retired from earlier careers.
The state of our education system. We are failing our children, we are failing the state. The South Carolina Constitution mandates that we provide every child with " A minimally adequate education." This has been upheld by the Supreme Court of South Carolina. We rank 50 of 50 in quality of education we provide. We can not expect to progress to higher living standards, higher wages, if we provide substandard education opportunity. Additionally, South Carolina is a major mecca for retirees. As our population ages, we are faced with the issues of relying on those students who received the "minimally adequate" educations to care for our seniors, to administer healthcare and medications. This is scary to say the least.
While it would be beneficial for the governor and legislature to see large portions of their roles as being in sync with each other, the legislature should not be a rubber stamp for the direction of the governor. The legislature has its responsibility back to the district voters and residents and as such, they should be taking a more local view of how policy is administered. The governor should be setting a direction they believe is where the state should be headed, but the legislature should always be looking to ensure that it serves the populace, and if that means defying the governor, on occasion, that is fine.
Yes, we need to find as much common ground as is possible within the legislature. Divided legislatures with an us vs them mentality get little accomplished that benefit the general populace.
Independent commissions, comprised of politicians, constituents and mostly statisticians and mathematicians. This would hopefully ensure that partisan politics is removed from the process. The commision would drawn the smallest, most contiguous districts, which ideally would not split communities, neighborhoods and streets for political gain.
As a freshman legislator, I would be honored to sit on any committee that could both use my prior lifetime experience and would benefit my constituents.
In any role and way in which they would have me.
No, the State Legislature is my area of interest in a post-retirement world.
I have heard from several constituents that when they have reached out to the incumbent to ask about his stand on particular pieces of legislation, he has berated them for questioning his judgement, and has told several to move back to where they came from as they are not wanted or needed here. This level of response to constituents, when repeated by many constituents, represent a poor view by the incumbent. However, without an opponent, they are returned to office election after election.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 7, 2020
Current members of the South Carolina House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:G. Murrell Smith
Majority Leader:Davey Hiott
Minority Leader:James Rutherford
Representatives
District 1
Bill Whitmire (R)
District 2
Adam Duncan (R)
District 3
Phillip Bowers (R)
District 4
Davey Hiott (R)
District 5
Neal Collins (R)
District 6
April Cromer (R)
District 7
Lee Gilreath (R)
District 8
Don Chapman (R)
District 9
Blake Sanders (R)
District 10
Thomas Beach (R)
District 11
Craig Gagnon (R)
District 12
Daniel Gibson (R)
District 13
John McCravy (R)
District 14
Luke Rankin (R)
District 15
JA Moore (D)
District 16
Mark Willis (R)
District 17
Mike Burns (R)
District 18
Alan Morgan (R)
District 19
Patrick Haddon (R)
District 20
Stephen Frank (R)
District 21
Vacant
District 22
Paul Wickensimer (R)
District 23
Chandra Dillard (D)
District 24
Bruce Bannister (R)
District 25
Wendell Jones (D)
District 26
David Martin (R)
District 27
David Vaughan (R)
District 28
Chris Huff (R)
District 29
Dennis Moss (R)
District 30
Brian Lawson (R)
District 31
Rosalyn Myers (D)
District 32
Scott Montgomery (R)
District 33
Travis Moore (R)
District 34
Sarita Edgerton (R)
District 35
Bill Chumley (R)
District 36
Robert Harris (R)
District 37
Steven Long (R)
District 38
Josiah Magnuson (R)
District 39
Cal Forrest (R)
District 40
Joe White (R)
District 41
Annie McDaniel (D)
District 42
Doug Gilliam (R)
District 43
Randy Ligon (R)
District 44
Mike Neese (R)
District 45
Brandon Newton (R)
District 46
Heath Sessions (R)
District 47
Tommy Pope (R)
District 48
Brandon Guffey (R)
District 49
John King (D)
District 50
Keishan Scott (D)
District 51
J. Weeks (D)
District 52
Jermaine Johnson (D)
District 53
Richie Yow (R)
District 54
Jason Luck (D)
District 55
Jackie Hayes (D)
District 56
Tim McGinnis (R)
District 57
Lucas Atkinson (D)
District 58
Jeff Johnson (R)
District 59
Terry Alexander (D)
District 60
Phillip Lowe (R)
District 61
Carla Schuessler (R)
District 62
Robert Williams (D)
District 63
Jay Jordan (R)
District 64
Fawn Pedalino (R)
District 65
Cody Mitchell (R)
District 66
Jackie Terribile (R)
District 67
G. Murrell Smith (R)
District 68
Heather Crawford (R)
District 69
Chris Wooten (R)
District 70
Robert Reese (D)
District 71
District 72
Seth Rose (D)
District 73
Christopher Hart (D)
District 74
James Rutherford (D)
District 75
Heather Bauer (D)
District 76
Leon Howard (D)
District 77
Kambrell Garvin (D)
District 78
Beth Bernstein (D)
District 79
Hamilton Grant (D)
District 80
Kathy Landing (R)
District 81
Charles Hartz (R)
District 82
William Clyburn (D)
District 83
Bill Hixon (R)
District 84
Melissa Oremus (R)
District 85
Jay Kilmartin (R)
District 86
Bill Taylor (R)
District 87
Paula Calhoon (R)
District 88
Vacant
District 89
Micah Caskey (R)
District 90
Justin Bamberg (D)
District 91
Lonnie Hosey (D)
District 92
Brandon Cox (R)
District 93
Jerry Govan (D)
District 94
Gil Gatch (R)
District 95
District 96
D. McCabe (R)
District 97
Robby Robbins (R)
District 98
Chris Murphy (R)
District 99
Mark Smith (R)
District 100
Sylleste Davis (R)
District 101
Roger Kirby (D)
District 102
Harriet Holman (R)
District 103
Carl Anderson (D)
District 104
William Bailey (R)
District 105
Kevin Hardee (R)
District 106
Val Guest (R)
District 107
Case Brittain (R)
District 108
Lee Hewitt (R)
District 109
District 110
Tom Hartnett (R)
District 111
Wendell Gilliard (D)
District 112
Joe Bustos (R)
District 113
Courtney Waters (D)
District 114
Gary Brewer (R)
District 115
Spencer Wetmore (D)
District 116
James Teeple (R)
District 117
Jordan Pace (R)
District 118
Bill Herbkersman (R)
District 119
District 120
Weston Newton (R)
District 121
Michael Rivers (D)
District 122
Bill Hager (R)
District 123
Jeff Bradley (R)
District 124
Shannon Erickson (R)
Republican Party (86)
Democratic Party (36)
Vacancies (2)
