S. Ben Hixon
S. Ben Hixon (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Virginia State Senate to represent District 17. Hixon lost in the Democratic primary on June 11, 2019.
Hixon completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.
Elections
2019
See also: Virginia State Senate elections, 2019
General election
General election for Virginia State Senate District 17
Incumbent Bryce Reeves defeated Amy Laufer in the general election for Virginia State Senate District 17 on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Bryce Reeves (R) | 51.6 | 34,494 |
 | Amy Laufer (D)  | 48.1 | 32,176 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 208 | ||
| Total votes: 66,878 | |||
| = 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
Democratic primary for Virginia State Senate District 17
Amy Laufer defeated S. Ben Hixon in the Democratic primary for Virginia State Senate District 17 on June 11, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Amy Laufer | 78.2 | 6,042 |
 | S. Ben Hixon | 21.7 | 1,679 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 1 | ||
| Total votes: 7,722 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Virginia State Senate District 17
Incumbent Bryce Reeves defeated Rich Breeden in the Republican primary for Virginia State Senate District 17 on June 11, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bryce Reeves | 82.3 | 6,325 |
 | Rich Breeden | 17.7 | 1,359 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 1 | ||
| Total votes: 7,685 | |||
| = 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
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
S. Ben Hixon completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Hixon's responses.
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
1. Strengthening education: I believe that we need to increase teacher pay and increase affordability of higher education. Beyond 4-year colleges I believe that it is crucial that we invest in trade schools and vocational training to expand our workforce and empower everyone to succeed. 2. Medicaid expansion: In 2018 Virginia was able to pass Medicaid expansion helping thousands of my potential constituents gain access to critical care. It's important that we continue to defend that access against those who seek to undermine it. It's also crucial that we expand coverage to include mental healthcare and dental care. There is a mental healthcare epidemic in Virginia and, we need to make access to professionals a crucial piece of our platform. 3. Investing in infrastructure: My district is large, but throughout it, infrastructure needs to be improved. In Fredericksburg we need to repair our roads and find new innovative ways to decongest I-95 traffic, allowing constituents to live better lives. Rent is too high and we need to revamp zoning laws and invest in housing trusts to create more affordable housing. In many rural parts of our district, it is crucial that we expand broadband so that everyone can have equal access to the tools that they need to succeed.
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?
Education, healthcare, protecting the environment, helping small farmers, protecting our civil rights, addressing racial inequality and criminal justice reform, repairing our infrastructure
Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?
Henry Howell, Abigail Spanberger.
What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?
As a computer engineer I am, problem solving, bridge building, hard working, and a good listener. I believe these are the crucial skills needed to support our community.
What do you perceive to be your state’s greatest challenges over the next decade?
Racial inequality.
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
2019 Elections
External links
Footnotes
