House of Delegates District 96 primary: Four Democrats fight for nomination
House of Delegates District 96 is a Democrat primary with four candidates: Kelly Convirs-Fowler, Susan Hippen, Brandon Hutchins and Sean Monteiro. The district includes parts of central and southern Virginia Beach.
Kelly Convirs-Fowler
Age: N/A
Occupation: Delegate
Education/degree: Master’s degree
Previous elected office: House of Delegates, District 21, 2018-present
Website: DelegateFowler.com
If elected, what would be your top statewide priority and how would you get it done?
I have already begun the work to work on a 10-year task force that will be nonpolitical and specifically be created to deal with the learning loss and issues relating to the pandemic. This ongoing group will work on individualizing the issues with different grades and subsets of students and plan how to address them through short and long term goals, including addressing teacher shortages.
What is the biggest concern for constituents in your district and how would you address it?
Education and just making sure our working families are safe. We all know the learning loss from the pandemic is huge, so we need established relationships to work across the aisle to fix the future to give our children the best possible chances in life. I have those relationships and an extensive background in education, so I look forward on moving ahead with these issues, once re-elected.
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Susan Hippen
Age: 63
Occupation: Retired Navy Master Chief
Education/degree: BS computer information systems
Previous elected office: None
Website: hippenfordelegate.com/
If elected, what would be your top statewide priority and how would you get it done?
Preventing the assault on women’s healthcare. We must pass legislation to protect a woman’s right to choice, medications, and appropriate healthcare. The push of some politicians to ban abortion has too many unintended consequences on women’s healthcare. Many do not understand that some medications and medical procedures are not just for abortion. To aim legislation at that one issue deprives women of necessary, and often live-saving, healthcare.
What is the biggest concern for constituents in your district and how would you address it?
House District 96 has a few concerns. It is one of two majority-minority districts in Virginia Beach. Top issues I hear from voters are women’s healthcare, funding and protecting public education, and the environment.
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Brandon Hutchins
Age: 41
Occupation: Healthcare administration
Education/degree: BS healthcare administration
Previous elected office: N/A
Website: Brandonhutchins.com
If elected, what would be your top statewide priority and how would you get it done?
My top priority would be to protect access to reproductive healthcare. I will support any legislation to protect access, and sponsor legislation if necessary. As a father to young women, it is important to me to protect their right to choose.
What is the biggest concern for constituents in your district and how would you address it?
One of the main concerns in my district are issues surrounding public education. Some of these issues include school infrastructure, teacher and staff pay, and closing the achievement gap made worse by the pandemic. As Delegate, I would vote to increase funding for public education, and oppose any efforts to take funding away from our schools.
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Sean Monteiro
Age: 47
Occupation: Retired Air Force Colonel/Realtor
Education/degree: MBA-management
Previous elected office: N/A
Website: www.SeanMonteiro.com
If elected, what would be your top statewide priority and how would you get it done?
With the reversal of Roe v. Wade, women’s status as citizens and reproductive rights are under threat. My top statewide priority is protecting women’s reproductive rights. I support codifying a woman’s choice to reproductive care in Virginia’s Constitution. I commit to voting for legislation that protect a woman’s reproductive freedoms such as protecting the Affordable Care Act’s provision to provide birth control. I support reproductive rights also covered in Medicaid expansion. Reproductive choice should never be an issue of income. No person should have the government interfering with their family planning and personal healthcare decisions. This is a matter of privacy, dignity, and respect.
What is the biggest concern for constituents in your district and how would you address it?
Virginia Beach leads the commonwealth in cost burdened renters and homeowners. When our essential workers are priced out of living in the communities that they serve, we have a serious problem. Affordable housing provides people the ability to invest in and build better communities. I plan to advocate for alleviating this strain across the board. At the state level, we need to look at the wage formulas for current grant programs to allow higher earners without the necessary funds to receive closing, down payment, and rental subsidy assistance. We also need to find ways to incentivize localities to increase their affordable housing inventory. In addition, we need to promote and incentivize programs that make older homes more energy efficient to reduce that cost to residents.
