Sonia Rathburn

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Sonia Rathburn

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

March 10, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, 1999-05

Personal

Birthplace

Oklahoma City, Okla.

Religion

Baptist

Profession

Marketing and Public Relations

Contact

Campaign Facebook

Campaign X

Personal Facebook

Personal Instagram

Sonia Rathburn (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District. Rathburn lost in the Democratic primary on March 10, 2020.

Rathburn completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Sonia Rathburn was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She graduated from Wynnewood High School. She earned a bachelor's degree in early childhood education from Oklahoma State University—Stillwater in 1999. Rathburn’s career experience includes working in marketing and public relations.

Elections

2020

See also: Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District election, 2020

Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District election, 2020 (March 10 Republican primary)

Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District election, 2020 (March 10 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Mississippi District 2

Incumbent Bennie Thompson defeated Brian Flowers in the general election for U.S. House Mississippi District 2 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bennie Thompson (D)	66.0	196,224
		Brian Flowers (R)	34.0	101,010

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 297,234
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary runoff election

Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Mississippi District 2

Brian Flowers defeated Thomas Carey in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Mississippi District 2 on June 23, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Brian Flowers	70.0	3,822
	Submit photo	Thomas Carey	30.0	1,638

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,460
= 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 U.S. House Mississippi District 2

Incumbent Bennie Thompson defeated Sonia Rathburn in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 2 on March 10, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bennie Thompson	94.0	97,921
		Sonia Rathburn	6.0	6,256

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 104,177
= 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 U.S. House Mississippi District 2

Brian Flowers and Thomas Carey advanced to a runoff. They defeated B.C. Hammond in the Republican primary for U.S. House Mississippi District 2 on March 10, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Brian Flowers	37.8	9,883
✔	Submit photo	Thomas Carey	36.2	9,456
		B.C. Hammond	26.0	6,812

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 26,151
= 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

Sonia Rathburn completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Rathburn's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Born in 1967 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Earned my B. A. in Early Childhood Education from City College and have M.S. from UCLA online courses in 2019. Working on Ph.D in Child Psychology. Certified in Psychological First Aide. Co-author "Diet and Exercise the RIGHT Way". Small business owner, Child trauma, traumatic brain injury, lupus advocate, and survivor. Wife, Mother, Grandmother, and former pageant queen.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Reform healthcare system to control cost, improve quality, expand preventive and long term care.
• Develop statewide workforce development, retraining opportunities, apprenticeships and lower cost of educational options.
• Increase salaries for public school teachers that demonstrate excellence in moving children forward in academics.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

The mental health epidemic is at the heart of why I'm running for congress. For me our mental health crisis is personal. I grow up dealing with traumatic brain injury and trauma. We must ensure that all Mississippian have access to quality mental health treatment and coverage regardless of their ability to pay. We must provide a system that assists those in need through school, prison, community centers and other settings. Right now, we only have resources for those who need it and some insurance coverage. Our communities can't wait. Mental health struggles are apart of everyday life.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Though he has passed away my father, Reverend Rufus, will always be my biggest source of inspiration in my life. His life was an example of pure hard work and dedication. I have never seen him idle and he just loves to work. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, and worked the same job for 30 years . He was an expert when it came to supervising county maintenance and problems. I have never seen him put his head down and bring down his ethics in his work to please other people . If something wasn't right, he made sure it was done to his satisfaction or made sure that others know that there was an issue. My father will always be someone whom I admire and pattern my life after.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

I have a quote I believe with help others to understand my political philosophy.
"For a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step- Art of War

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Every elected offical should be:

• Honest
  
• Understand the duties and responsibilites of representing the people of their state
  
• Commitment to serving the people who voted for him/her
  
• Positive attitude
  
• Ability to inspire and lead others
  

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

My values are in aligned with the democracy of which our country was founded on. To think about the people, to live our life, in surface to service others. It's not about what I want, need or what is going to build my account. But recognize and work towards the good of the community, state and nation.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Be willing to collaborate with leaders of education, business, goverment sectors, families, churches and other organizations to address problem solving of issues, priorities, and direction to ensure success in their district and state.

What legacy would you like to leave?

My leadership was about lending my voice for causes, issues, and my state. My term brought change to move this state forward in progress. That Mississippians have affordable health care and coverage, top notch education job creation, and raises for hardworking teachers. This is the legacy I want to leave.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Starting my charity Teddy" We Care" Bears in 2015. I was dedicated to helping children and adolescents who experience trauma, overwhelming distress, and short and long term effects of traumatic experiences and events. There was no one advocating child trauma in Mississippi. So i started my own charity. I've traveled to 35 Mississippi counties, 8 others states and sent to charities overseas.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Nurse's Aide at a Nursing home. I worked that job for 5 years.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Baby shark, I have a grandson.

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

The most important quality I can think of is the U.S. House of Representatives embodies the framework of addressing and representing the people of their community, district, and state.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

No. Lots of greatest political representatives have never held office.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Drug testing for anyone receiving federal and state assistance.
We should certainly discourage people from using illegal drugs. But we need to do it without wasting a lots of taxpayers dollars. States that tried this policy have found that they spend much more tax money on drug testing than saving in cutting benefits. Drug addiction is a problem across the nation. It's time we focused on treatment and prevention programs that work.

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

No.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

There are already term limits for representatives, they're called "elections." Adding term limits would take the power from the voter.

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

n/a

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

n/a

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

What's on the ballot? U.S. President U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

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External links

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Footnotes

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Mississippi's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Cindy Hyde-Smith (R)

Roger Wicker (R)

Representatives

District 1

Trent Kelly (R)

District 2

Bennie Thompson (D)

District 3

Michael Guest (R)

District 4

Mike Ezell (R)

Republican Party (5)

Democratic Party (1)