My Letter to the Voters of Ward 2
Dear Neighbor,
This is a perilous moment for American democracy. The President and his allies threaten our rights and our freedoms every day. We often feel helpless to fight back, but when the national and global situations feel overwhelming I think it’s even more important to strengthen our commitment to our community and work to improve things closer to home.
That’s why I’m running for City Council in Ward 2‒to help solve the city’s biggest challenges, and be prepared for impending threats from the federal government.
We need Providence to remain welcoming, safe, and affordable for residents of all ages, and for our trans, disabled and immigrant neighbors.
When I moved to Providence 27 years ago, I never imagined that I would still be here today. I grew up in Wellesley, Massachusetts with no connection to Rhode Island. My mother grew up in a close-knit Jewish family from West Hartford. My grandmother immigrated to the United States from the old country as a small child in 1914 and built a life in America with my grandfather, who worked as a journalist at the Hartford Times. Importantly, my grandmother made the best chocolate chip mandelbrot ever - I’ll post the recipe on my website.
My father’s family lived across the country, but I spent time with my grandparents and cousins every summer in Arizona. From my grandfather in particular, I learned to take my education and my career seriously, but never to take myself too seriously. My grandfather always had a joke ready, and some of them are even funny (ask me when I meet you).
While my own parents were not active in politics, my mother’s sisters, Nan and Fran, demonstrated the importance of public service throughout their lives. Nan was elected to the West Hartford town council, and was also mayor for a time. Fran was a teacher who became a union advocate in Florida, leading the Brevard Federation of Teachers for decades. I credit both of my aunts for nurturing my progressive values and showing me how important it is to put those values into action.
From my family, I learned resilience, kindness, and the importance of stepping up when our community needs us.
I left New England to attend Carleton College in Minnesota. It was there that I met Professor Paul Wellstone, who later became a U.S. Senator from Minnesota. His often-repeated motto —“we all do better when we all do better”— sums up everything I believe about government and its potential to improve peoples’ lives.
After law school at the University of Minnesota I clerked for federal appeals court Judge Gerald Heaney, a union lawyer who helped build Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor party. Judge Heaney demonstrated a deep commitment to social justice through his legal opinions and - just as importantly - his personal actions. Among other things, Judge Heaney taught me the importance of living my values, something I have tried to do my entire career.
My wife, Gayle Goldin, took a job in Pawtucket after graduate school and we bought a home on College Hill in 1998. We still live in the same house 27 years later. Once we started a family it didn’t take long to figure out that we were staying here for good. We joined Temple Emanu-El and enrolled our kids at Henry Barnard School, where they (and we) made many life-long friends. Zack is now 24 and Jonah is 21, and they would both tell you that Providence was a wonderful place to grow up.
I volunteered for a decade with the Fox Point East Side Little League, serving as board president and coaching at every level. One year a player asked his father, “why is Zack so good at baseball if Mr. Levy can’t even throw a ball?” (thanks a lot, Justin). His father helpfully reminded him that my kids are adopted. In fact, one of the many joys of adoption has been watching my boys grow up with talents and interests that are very different from mine. Jonah started surfing at a very young age - I have watched him catch waves in Narragansett, Huntington Beach, Tel Aviv, and the North Shore of Oahu. Since I apparently can’t throw a baseball I never bothered to try surfing. Both kids have become avid fishermen, a shared passion that they pursue together whenever they have the chance.
Gayle was first elected to the State Senate in 2012, representing the East Side until she joined the Biden-Harris administration in 2021. I leaned into the role of political spouse, and focused on my career and our kids. I am very proud of Gayle for everything she accomplished in the Senate, particularly her work on paid leave and protecting abortion rights.
I’m ready to take on a larger role preparing Providence for the threat posed by Trump, and helping to solve our city’s biggest challenges.
I have never been happier as a lawyer than I have over the past 10 years, building my law practice in Wayland Square. My clients are mostly local residents and businesses, and I have always dedicated as much time as I can to pro bono projects with the ACLU, Public Citizen and the Victims Rights Law Center, among others. During the pandemic I participated in a court-sponsored program to advise tenants facing eviction of their legal rights. I’ve also served on the boards of the Economic Progress Institute and Jewish Family Services and on committees at Save the Bay, the Wheeler School and Adoption Rhode Island.
My most satisfying pro bono victory came at the Rhode Island Supreme Court in 2023, after I sued and blocked the Town of Richmond’s brazen attempt to steal a seat on the Chariho School Board from a Democrat to hand it to a MAGA Republican. In support of free and fair elections, I have volunteered as a voter protection attorney during elections in Florida and Pennsylvania since 2004, and for the past decade as an election law attorney for progressive candidates in Rhode Island.
Providence faces long-term challenges with schools, housing, and affordability. Now the Trump administration is threatening our city in new and unprecedented ways. We need a City Councilor who will do the hard work on both fronts.
Ward 2 has a proud tradition of thoughtful, hardworking city councilors, and I want to continue that legacy while meeting the urgency of this moment. That means putting in the hard work to find equitable solutions to city issues and fighting back when our neighbors’ rights are under attack.
Over the next two months, I look forward to knocking on doors, meeting neighbors, and listening to your ideas and concerns. To learn more about the issues that will be my top priorities as your City Councilor please visit the issues pages of my website, and you can always reach me by sending me a message through this website.
I hope to earn your vote in the Democratic primary on or before November 04, 2025.
Sincerely,
Jeff Levy
Candidate for Providence City Council, Ward 2
Ps. If you would like to vote from the comfort of your home, you can request a mail ballot for the primary election before October 15, 2025 by going to mailballot.sos.ri.gov