Eight candidates are vying to win the Democratic primary for Massachusetts’ Fourth Congressional District. The seat, currently held by Rep. Joe Kennedy III, opened up in November when Kennedy announced his run for U.S. Senate.

COVID-19 has made in-person campaigning difficult for these candidates, and for their would-be constituents looking to make an informed choice.

That’s why we’ve invited all of them to participate in a special three-part Under The Radar congressional candidate forum. For these discussions, the candidates were divided randomly into groups of three, as listed below. Whoever wins the Democratic primary will then face one of the two Republican candidates also running for the seat: Julie Hall and David Rosa.

The state's primary election is Sept. 1 and early voting begins Aug. 22.

*Since these segments were taped, Dave Cavell has dropped out of the race, though his name will remain on the ballot. He has backed Jesse Mermell.

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Becky Grossman (L), Ihssane Leckey (C) and Jesse Mermell (R)
Courtesy of the candidates' campaigns
Listen To Part 1

Part 1

A discussion with:

  • Becky Grossman, at-large member of the Newton City Council and former assistant district attorney for Middlesex County
  • Ihssane Leckey, former Wall Street regulator and the only woman of color in this race
  • Jesse Mermell, former Brookline Select Board member, advisor to Gov. Deval Patrick, and senior leader at Planned Parenthood
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Alan Khazei (L), Natalia Linos (C) and Ben Sigel (R)
Courtesy of the candidates' campaigns
Listen To Part 2

Part 2

A discussion with:

  • Alan Khazei, social entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Be The Change, Inc. and co-founder of City Year, an education-focused national service program for young adults
  • Natalia Linos, epidemiologist and executive director of the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard
  • Ben Sigel, Brookline attorney and former director of client and community relations, special counsel at Mintz Levin. If elected, he would become the first Latino to represent Massachusetts in Congress.
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Jake Auchincloss (L), Dave Cavell (C), Chris Zannetos (R)
Courtesy of the candidates' campaigns
Listen To Part 3

Part 3

A discussion with:

  • Jake Auchincloss, Newton city councilor, U.S. Marine veteran, and former senior manager at Liberty Mutual’s innovation lab
  • Dave Cavell, former speechwriter for President Barack Obama and former assistant attorney general and senior advisor to Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. He dropped out of the race after this episode was taped.
  • Chris Zannetos, tech entrepreneur and board member of the Advanced Cyber Security Center