Emmett Hanger
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Emmett Wilson Hanger Jr. (born August 2, 1948, in
Staunton, Virginia Staunton ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,750. In Virginia, independent cities a ...
) is an
American politician In the United States, politics functions within a framework of a constitutional federal democratic republic with a presidential system. The three distinct branches share powers: Congress, which forms the legislative branch, a bicameral legis ...
of the Republican Party. He was a member of the
Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...
from 1983 to 1991, when he was unseated by
Creigh Deeds Robert Creigh Deeds (; born January 4, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as a member of the Senate of Virginia representing the 11th district since 2024, and previously the 25th district since 2001. Previously, he was the Dem ...
. He then served as member of the
Senate of Virginia The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Vir ...
, representing the 24th district from 1996 to 2024. This district, located in the central
Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia in the United States. The Valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the east ...
and nearby sections of the
Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a Physiographic regions of the United States, physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States and extends 550 miles southwest from southern ...
, included the independent cities of Staunton, and Waynesboro, as well as Augusta County, Greene County, Madison County, and parts of Rockingham County and Culpeper County.Senate of Virginia; Emmett W. Hanger Jr.Virginia House of Delegates; Emmett W. Hanger Jr.


Early life and career

Hanger was a former
National Guard National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. ...
Commander and served as a Captain in the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
.


Political career


Virginia House of Delegates

Hanger served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1983 to 1992.


Virginia State Senate

Hanger was already elected to the State Senate for the first time in 1996. In the Senate, he is a member of the following committees: Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources; Finance; Local Government; and Rehabilitation and Social Services. In 2018, Hanger was rated the 10th most productive state legislator in the United States by
FiscalNote FiscalNote Holdings, Inc., or commonly FiscalNote, is a publicly traded software, data, and media company headquartered in Washington, D.C. The company was founded by Timothy Hwang, Gerald Yao, and Jonathan Chen in 2013. FiscalNote provides sof ...
, a data analytics firm based out of Washington, DC. FiscalNote's methodology is based on the quantity of bills sponsored, how far each sponsored bills progresses through the legislative process, and how substantive the bill is.


Political positions


Healthcare

Emmett Hanger is known for his open support of
Medicaid expansion Under the public healthcare policy of the United States, some people have incomes too high to qualify in their state of residence for Medicaid, the public health insurance plan for those with limited resources, but too low to qualify for the pr ...
under the Affordable Care Act, which he pursued for multiple budget cycles. Due to his open support of Medicaid expansion, many organizations have taken it upon themselves to oppose Emmett Hanger. In October 2013, the
Americans for Prosperity Americans for Prosperity (AFP), founded in 2004, is a Libertarian conservatism, libertarian conservative political advocacy group in the United States affiliated with brothers Charles Koch and the late David Koch. As the Koch family's primary pol ...
(AFP) group began, according to Hanger, “an attempt to intimidate me” in the AFP group's campaign to oppose "
Obamacare The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presi ...
" in the state of
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
. In 2015, Emmett Hanger was challenged for the Republican nomination by Dan Moxley, former Augusta County GOP chairman and Republican activist, and Marshall Pattie, former Augusta County Democratic Committee chairman and Augusta County Board of Supervisors member from Augusta County's North River District. In 2018, Hanger succeeded in pushing through the Medicaid expansion as part of the 2018 budget cycle with the support of a bipartisan coalition in both the House of Delegates and the State Senate. Along with governor
Ralph Northam Ralph Shearer Northam (born September 13, 1959) is an American physician and former politician who served as the 73rd governor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022. A pediatric Neurology, neurologist by occupation, he was an officer in the Medical Co ...
, Hanger received the "Hero in Health Care Extraordinaire" award from the Virginia Health Care Foundation. Hanger also advocates for mental health, and has called for improving treatment resources in state mental health facilities.


Political reform

Hanger supports redistricting reform in order to combat
gerrymandering Gerrymandering, ( , originally ) defined in the contexts of Representative democracy, representative electoral systems, is the political manipulation of Boundary delimitation, electoral district boundaries to advantage a Political party, pa ...
. In 2019, he co-sponsored a successful bipartisan resolution alongside Senator
Mamie Locke Mamie Evelyn Locke (born March 19, 1954) is an American politician and educator. A Democrat, she was a member of the Hampton, Virginia city council 1996–2004, and mayor 2000–2004. Education Locke received a B.A. degree in history ...
(D-
Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia * Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria ** Hampton railway station, Melbour ...
). This bill, SJ 274, would create a 10-member Citizens Redistricting Commission made up of members of the general public selected by leaders in both chambers of the General Assembly as well as retired circuit court judges. This panel would be responsible for drawing the state legislative boundaries as well as Virginia's 11 Congressional districts and would be charged with ensuring that the district lines not be biased against any party or candidate, not abridge the rights of minority voters, and respect existing municipal boundaries. This bill would require a state constitutional amendment, which under Virginia law requires it to pass the General Assembly in two consecutive sessions and then be voted on in a referendum in fall 2021.


Women's rights

Hanger voted in favor of ratifying the
Equal Rights Amendment The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States, United States Constitution that would explicitly prohibit sex discrimination. It is not currently a part of the Constitution, though its Ratifi ...
during the 2020 session of the General Assembly. If enacted, the ERA would guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex.


Tax reform

Hanger supports a proposal to allow Virginia localities to impose local taxes on cigarettes. These sales taxes, which could be up to 40 cents per pack, would be levied in addition to the existing state taxes. This proposal was introduced as part of Hanger's bill allowing counties the same authority to impose taxes on meals, lodging, and admissions without requiring a
referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
.


LGBT rights

In the 2020 session of the General Assembly, Hanger voted in favor of the Virginia Values Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected characteristics under Virginia's laws against discrimination in housing, employment and places of public accommodation.


Electoral history


2019 Virginia state elections

Hanger was challenged for his seat by Tina Freitas, the wife of incumbent Delegate Nicholas "Nick" Freitas. Freitas criticized Hanger's views on
gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms and ammunition by civilians. Most countries allow civilians to own firearms, bu ...
, abortion, as well as his support for
Medicaid Medicaid is a government program in the United States that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by U.S. state, state governments, which also h ...
expansion. Hanger overcame the primary challenge and secured the Republican Party nomination in a June 10 vote. He went on to actually win the general election in a landslide against yoga teacher Annette Hyde, with 71% of the vote.


Awards and honors

Alongside Governor
Ralph Northam Ralph Shearer Northam (born September 13, 1959) is an American physician and former politician who served as the 73rd governor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022. A pediatric Neurology, neurologist by occupation, he was an officer in the Medical Co ...
, Hanger received the "Hero in Health Care Extraordinaire” from the Virginia Health Care Foundation for his work in passing the Medicaid expansion. Hanger also received plaudits at the first inaugural unity breakfast held by Unite America's Virginia branch, Unite Virginia in 2019. Unite Virginia, a non-profit group that promotes bipartisanship and independent candidates, honored Hanger for his work in passing the Medicaid expansion as well as for advocating for redistricting and campaign finance reform. Alongside Hanger, the group honored Virginia state delegate and
Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
Republican
Chris Peace Christopher Kilian Peace (born November 16, 1976) is an American politician. He is a member of the Republican Party. From 2006–2019 Peace was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. He represented the 97th district in the Middle Peninsu ...
as well as Democratic state delegate Sam Rasoul from Roanoke and state senator
Mamie Locke Mamie Evelyn Locke (born March 19, 1954) is an American politician and educator. A Democrat, she was a member of the Hampton, Virginia city council 1996–2004, and mayor 2000–2004. Education Locke received a B.A. degree in history ...
from
Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...
.


Notes


References

* *
Emmett Hanger: Responsible Leadership in Virginia's Senate
(Constituent/campaign website)


External links

* * * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanger, Emmett Wilson Jr. 1948 births Living people Republican Party Virginia state senators Republican Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates James Madison University alumni Politicians from Staunton, Virginia 21st-century members of the Virginia General Assembly