Ben Marcus
Ben Marcus (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Florida House of Representatives to represent District 16. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Marcus completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Ben Marcus was born in Concord, Massachusetts. He earned a bachelor's degree in social sciences from Jacksonville University in 2017. Marcus also earned an M.P.A. from Jacksonville University in April 2020. His career experience includes working as a nonprofit consultant, small business owner, and stay-at-home dad.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: Florida House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Florida House of Representatives District 16
Incumbent Jason Fischer defeated Ben Marcus in the general election for Florida House of Representatives District 16 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jason Fischer (R) | 57.6 | 59,549 |
 | Ben Marcus (D)  | 42.4 | 43,901 | |
| Total votes: 103,450 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Erin Christy (Independent)
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Ben Marcus advanced from the Democratic primary for Florida House of Representatives District 16.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Jason Fischer advanced from the Republican primary for Florida House of Representatives District 16.
Campaign finance
Campaign themes
2020
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released February 8, 2020 |
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Ben Marcus completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Marcus' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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He has spent his career working with clients and non profit organizations to realize their inherent potential and better engage constituents and stakeholders. Ben believes state legislators should first and foremost serve their constituents, and local elected bodies, not get in their way or work to undermine their will.
He is a graduate of Jacksonville University and Santa Fe College. He lives in the Sunbeam area of Jacksonville with his wife and three children and attends Ahavath Chesed (the Temple). Ben spends his free time playing drums and enjoying Jacksonville's parks with the family.- Work to make our PreK-12 public school system among the best in the country.
- Invest in our public assets including schools, parks, bridges, libraries, and drainage systems.
- Get special interest money out of politics and advocate for stricker campaign finance regulations.
- Sustainable development: Ben will work hard to elevate development with standards respecting the environment and the community. He will advocate for incentives to boost the exciting cost saving and job creating technologies this state needs to get and stay ahead.
- Investing in community: Ben will advocate to invest in important, community defining assets. He will make ensuring every child receives the high quality education they are guaranteed in our state Constitution a top priority issue.
- Protecting the future: Ben will focus on investing in our environment and blocking attempts to start or expand on or offshore drilling. He will fight for the resources Jacksonville needs to protect our future.
- Defending home rule principles: Ben will work constructively with local elected bodies and voters to solve issues and come to productive conclusions. He will actively block efforts by the state legislature to meddle in local affairs .
The core function of a state legislator is to make a concerted effort to really understand their district and represent their constituents, not just their own opinion. Seeing the picture from as many perspectives as possible is essential to presenting the most effective policy solutions. Not only for the group crafting the legislation or rule change but for those affected by it as well.
The battle we're fighting is a long-term one and our opponent is voter cynicism. People want something different but have lost trust in their ability to change things. We are in it to win it 100% and when I get to Tallahassee I will be laser focused on getting rid of candidate slush funds and dampening special interest influence. That being said, this entire venture would be worth it if new leaders find their feet and pick up the torch as a result of their involvement in our campaign.
The sea level is in fact rising and is projected to cost Florida upwards of $75bil just for infrastructure hardening alone over the coming decades, not counting property buy outs and the displacement of communities. This is not just a challenge to mitigate the effects of, but a new reality we must prepare our state for. Everything from building standards to water treatment to availability of agricultural land and products will be directly impacted by sea level rise and we must get ahead of it as much as we can.
Making sure our city is prepared for sea level rise, our schools have the resources and staff necessary to teach our children, or that special interests aren't buying decisions from legislators has nothing to do with party affiliation and everything to do with caring about the future. To that end, building constructive relationships with legislators across lines of difference is the only way to truly make progress. I will work as hard as I can to help bring my colleagues along on issues of central importance to the future of our state.
- Prek-12 Innovation Subcommittee
- Public Integrity & Ethics Committee
- Local Administration Subcommittee
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 February 12, 2020
