Titus Benton
From Ballotpedia
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Titus Benton (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Texas State Senate to represent District 17. He lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Benton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Titus Benton was born in Alton, Illinois. He received a bachelor's degree from Saint Louis Christian College in 2003 and a master's degree from Lincoln Christian University in 2008. Benton's professional experience includes working as a nonprofit executive.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: Texas State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Texas State Senate District 17
Incumbent Joan Huffman defeated Titus Benton in the general election for Texas State Senate District 17 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Joan Huffman (R) | 65.3 | 179,653 |
 | Titus Benton (D)  | 34.7 | 95,320 | |
| Total votes: 274,973 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas State Senate District 17
Titus Benton defeated Miguel Gonzalez in the Democratic primary for Texas State Senate District 17 on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Titus Benton | 51.2 | 11,958 |
| Miguel Gonzalez | 48.8 | 11,393 | ||
| Total votes: 23,351 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas State Senate District 17
Incumbent Joan Huffman advanced from the Republican primary for Texas State Senate District 17 on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joan Huffman | 100.0 | 58,841 |
| Total votes: 58,841 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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Campaign finance
2020
See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Texas House of Representatives District 132
Mike Schofield defeated incumbent Gina Calanni and Titus Benton in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 132 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mike Schofield (R) | 51.8 | 52,299 |
 | Gina Calanni (D) | 48.1 | 48,514 | |
| Titus Benton (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.1 | 116 | |
| Total votes: 100,929 | |||
| = 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 Texas House of Representatives District 132
Incumbent Gina Calanni advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 132 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Gina Calanni | 100.0 | 11,935 |
| Total votes: 11,935 | |||
| = 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 Texas House of Representatives District 132
Mike Schofield defeated Angelica Garcia in the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 132 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mike Schofield | 53.0 | 6,779 |
| Angelica Garcia | 47.0 | 6,023 | ||
| Total votes: 12,802 | |||
| = 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
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Titus Benton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Benton's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Titus Benton is running for the Texas State Senate in District 17. A former pastor, Benton started a charity in 2014 which has raised and given away nearly a half million dollars to communities in need all over the world. Currently a nonprofit Chief Operating Officer, Benton lives in Katy, Texas.
- I believe everyone deserves access to affordable, quality healthcare. It’s time for Texas to expand Medicaid, providing benefits to over a million of our neighbors without raising taxes. We can legalize marijuana and use the tax revenue to help pave the way to universal health care in Texas.
- Economic justice means a minimum wage that is a living wage. Throughout District 17, that living wage needs to be at least $15/hour. Economic justice also means corporations and the super wealthy paying more taxes, relieving the burden of the working class. Lastly, all people should receive the same pay for doing the same work, regardless of their racial or gender identity.
- Ensuring the right to vote and the full strength of each ballot cast is integral to our democracy. Voting rights should be expanded, not rolled back, and the force of an individual’s vote must not be diluted by race-based gerrymandering. We need a redistricting process that works for all of us and not just those in power. The Texas GOP puts political considerations ahead of community interests by dividing us along racial lines. From rhetoric to policy, we deserve unifying and compassionate leaders in Texas.
I am most interested in policy which impacts people's daily lives. We must create more jobs in Texas that pay a livable wage. We must find creative solutions to providing quality healthcare to all citizens. Voting rights must not be diluted based on where someone lives, partisan gerrymandering, etc. All people deserve full and equal civil rights. Texas must invest in infrastructure projects like flood control and rural broadband. We need to legalize marijuana in Texas, as well as pursue other criminal justice reforms. And climate change must be recognized and addressed in partnership with the private sector. All my policy priorities are listed here: https://titusfortexas.com/priorities/
We need emotionally mature people who know who they are.
We need women and men who are excellent listeners and capable of thinking critically.
We need good communicators who can synthesize complicated ideas into understandable language.
I am a bridge builder, a good listener, and someone who genuinely and deeply loves people.
If I strike out, I want to strike out swinging on behalf of those who are often overlooked, unheard, and ignored. I want to leverage every ounce of privilege and skill that I have to help those who need help most.
Best Fiction Book -- 11/22/63 by Stephen King
Best Nonfiction Book -- Failing Forward by Richard Rohr
Best Nonfiction Book -- Failing Forward by Richard Rohr
Texas is a rapidly growing state. We are in need of infrastructure investment, quality educational opportunities, and good paying jobs. In order to accommodate this growth we have to invest in the future and not rely on our past successes. Revenue streams will be vital to our continued growth. We should not shirk the help of the federal government to fund meaningful infrastructure programs like we have for the past ten years with healthcare. We need reform in the permanent university fund, and investment in flood control. Legalizing marijuana would result in an estimated $400 million in tax revenue annually.
Above all, we must find ways to work together. Hyper partisanship, polarization, and fear-based politics are causing deep harm to the public trust. We must elect people who are ready to work together regardless of party affiliation.
Above all, we must find ways to work together. Hyper partisanship, polarization, and fear-based politics are causing deep harm to the public trust. We must elect people who are ready to work together regardless of party affiliation.
I believe anyone with a passion for public service can serve effectively in the lawmaking process. We need business people, educators, faith-based leaders, healthcare professionals, and representatives from all walks of life. We need representation from the LGBTQ+ community, representation from every racial and socio-economic background.
We don't necessarily need legislators with previous experience in government or politics, but we need legislators with previous experience in critical thinking, public service, and communication.
We don't necessarily need legislators with previous experience in government or politics, but we need legislators with previous experience in critical thinking, public service, and communication.
I believe that we can still find common ground, employ common sense, and pursue the common good. Compromise does not equal weakness. In order to dig our way out of the hyper-partisan hole we find ourselves in, we must rediscover the art of cooperation and compromise.
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.
2020
Titus Benton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Benton's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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A career public servant, Titus Benton has served in the local church and in the nonprofit sector since 1999. The founder of The 25 Group, a nonprofit which serves the global poor, Benton turned his eye to politics in 2020 after growing weary of the increased partisanship present in our country.
An experienced communicator and leader, Benton is a bridge builder and known for his ability to listen well, synthesize complicated information, and build consensus. A prolific writer, Benton continues to serve nonprofits from Katy, Texas, where he resides with his wife Kari, two children (ages 15 and 12), and beagle.
- I am an non-partisan option that can bring unity in the midst of a divisive political culture.
- I am committed to achieving solutions for the most marginalized people in my district.
- I believe in "both/and" rather than "either/or." I think we can all win and don't have to be oppositional in our practice to do so.
Healthcare, flooding, affordable housing, whole life movement, poverty, education, small business
There are many public figures I admire, but my main inspiration in life have always been my mom and dad. They were hard working, simple people on the outside looking in. But I had the good fortune of being on the inside. They were brilliant, compassionate, steady forces in my life. I lost my mom in 2019 to lung cancer, but one of the highlights of my week continue to be my long talks on the phone with my dad. I hope I can consistently be the type of truth-telling, people-serving, forces for good they always were.
The And Campaign's book Conviction and Compassion is a pretty good summary of my approach.
They must be a good listener, and full of integrity. They should be humble and wise and willing to do what is best for the whole. They should be above reproach in terms of consistent ethics. They should possess a strong work ethic and be willing to compromise.
I am a bridge builder, a communicator, and a public servant.
My core competencies of curiosity, perspective, and wanting to make a difference will serve me well to accelerate progress in the areas where I already have expertise, listen well and learn fast in the areas where I don't, and create an environment where human flourishing is possible through passing laws that serve all people.
There is a lot in this world that is but shouldn't be, and a lot that shouldn't be but is. By the time I'm dead, I want there to be more that should be that is.
I can remember the Challenger explosion in kindergarten, but most of my historical events that I recall are sports-oriented, including the World Series featuring my beloved Saint Louis Cardinals in 1985.
My very first job was on the farm in southern Missouri. I was driving the tractor in the hay field in elementary school, and working with animals and crops my entire childhood. In those days, I didn't love laboring in the heat of a hay loft or trudging around the muddy barn lot sorting cows, but today fresh cut hay or the smell of sheep or grain brings back a lot of fond memories.
My favorite fiction book is 11/22/63 by Stephen King
My favorite nonfiction book is probably Immortal Diamond by Richard Rohr
My favorite nonfiction book is probably Immortal Diamond by Richard Rohr
I have a very deep connection with George Bailey from It's a Wonderful Life
Whatever country song I heard last on the radio.
I am a people pleaser. I had to learn to not only have an opinion, but assert it and fight for it. I found this difficult for a while, but easier once I started advocating for things that were really important to me.
I don't find the importance between the chambers in their differences, but in their common goals. Both the House and the Senate in Texas are responsible for creating equitable laws that allow our neighbors to flourish. It is in this common value that the importance of cooperation and nonpartisan progress is found.
While I believe experience is important, you can have profoundly positive experiences in other sectors that translate to the government. That the Texas state legislature is an every-other-year gathering is an important nuance to me - our representatives are from education and banking and the nonprofit sector. Those experiences allow us to represent our districts well, and it is this type of public service experience that I think makes me a strong candidate.
Texas is exploding in growth, with no slowing in sight. We have to manage that growth on multiple fronts. Infrastructure, the environment, education, affordable housing, jobs, etc...the fast pace does not allow much room for error. To have equity and upward mobility for all people, we will have to work hard to accommodate this growth.
Every ideal relationship is one where trust and shared values are present. Every elected official should have at the forefront of their minds the best interest of every citizen. When partisanship is prioritized, people suffer. We are public servants, not career politicians seeking to advance our careers. With this as our shared values, we should trust each other in the process of governing. That trust will lead to cooperation, compromise, and progress that serves all people.
It's not only beneficial, it's essential. No woman or man is an island, and no one can carry the burdens of a district alone. We must work together. That is one of the main reasons I am running as an independent - I want to have the moral authority to seek cooperation and discourse with both parties without fearing what my party leadership might think. Relationships are vital to progress.
There is a very fine line between legal, politically motivated gerrymandering and illegal discriminatory gerrymandering. My broader goal would be to have a nonpartisan agency draw the lines for districts. In the mean time, I hope being an independent will bring a nonpartisan voice of accountability to both sides of this crucial process.
Health and human services is something I'm extremely passionate about along with education.
I would love to be the first independent elected in a general election of the state legislature in Texas since the 1930s so that I can lead from a nonpartisan stance in both parties.
I think politics are best when they are local, and the state representative role is a hyper local role in the sense that I get to advocate for my district while being in the room where state laws are also made. I do not have career aspirations in politics, I have service aspirations.
What I am hearing time and time again from people is that they are excited to have a third option. In recording a podcast last week, the host said that she and her husband were for the very first time excited to vote for someone. The partisan temperature in our country has risen to dangerous levels, and it's time for the fever to break.
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
2022 Elections
External links
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Candidate Texas State Senate District 17 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 29, 2020
Current members of the Texas State Senate
Senators
District 1
Bryan Hughes (R)
District 2
Bob Hall (R)
District 3
Robert Nichols (R)
District 4
Vacant
District 5
District 6
Carol Alvarado (D)
District 7
Paul Bettencourt (R)
District 8
Angela Paxton (R)
District 9
Vacant
District 10
Phil King (R)
District 11
Mayes Middleton (R)
District 12
Tan Parker (R)
District 13
Borris Miles (D)
District 14
Sarah Eckhardt (D)
District 15
Molly Cook (D)
District 16
Nathan Johnson (D)
District 17
Joan Huffman (R)
District 18
Lois Kolkhorst (R)
District 19
Roland Gutierrez (D)
District 20
Juan Hinojosa (D)
District 21
Judith Zaffirini (D)
District 22
Brian Birdwell (R)
District 23
Royce West (D)
District 24
Peter Flores (R)
District 25
Donna Campbell (R)
District 26
José Menéndez (D)
District 27
Adam Hinojosa (R)
District 28
Charles Perry (R)
District 29
César Blanco (D)
District 30
Brent Hagenbuch (R)
District 31
Kevin Sparks (R)
Republican Party (18)
Democratic Party (11)
Vacancies (2)
