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VOTE411 Voter Guide

Virginia Senate, District 6

The Senate of Virginia is the upper chamber of the Virginia General Assembly and as such shares legislative responsibility with the House of Delegates. Senators are elected for a four-year term. Each Senator represents approximately 200,000 Virginians. The 6th District includes Accomack County, Matthews County, Northampton County, and parts of Virginia Beach and Norfolk.

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  • Elizabeth A. Lankford
    (Rep)

  • Candidate picture

    Lynwood W. Lewis Jr.
    (Dem)

Biographical Information

What do you believe is the top priority for your district, and what is your plan to address it? (1000 character limit)

Regarding redistricting, (1) Do you support the proposal for a Virginia Redistricting Commission and why? (2) If the Constitution Amendment is adopted, what legislation would you support to implement the commission? (1000 character limit)

What would you do to help Virginia adapt to increased flooding and mitigate future sea level rises? (1000 character limit)

What solutions would you support to reduce gun violence in Virginia? (1000 character limit)

What, if anything, should the General Assembly do to promote health care coverage that is adequate, affordable and accessible for all Virginians? (1000 character limit)

What are your priorities and goals for education funding in Virginia? (1000 character limit)

What measures, if any, would you support to ensure the right to vote and election integrity? (1000 character limit)

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Address P.O. Box 760
Accomac, VA 23301
Campaign Phone (703) 927-0915
Website http://lynwoodlewis.com/
Email lewisforsenate06@gmail.com
Biography B.A. Hampden-Sydney. Law Degree University of Richmond. Virginia House of Delegates (2004-2014). Virginia Senate (2014 to Present). One son: John Zadoc Lewis.
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/lynwoodlewisva
Twitter @lynwoodlewis
Improving public education. We have to fully fund education, address our school infrastructure, and strengthen teacher pay. Additional at-risk funding is needed for many of the schools in the 6th Senate District, and Virginia should be a leader in recruiting and paying teachers--not below the national average in teacher pay. The General Assembly has a critical role to play in this, and additional funding is necessary. I also believe we have to get more counselors into our schools, and expand access to Pre-K and early childhood education. I have co-sponsored legislation to get state investment in school infrastructure. And this year, I sponsored legislation for a complete study of our Standards of Quality, which are woefully out of date.
I do support an independent redistricting commission. I believe nonpartisan redistricting is vital to prevent DC-style partisan dysfunction from creeping further into Virginia politics. I sponsored a bill adopting the Iowa model for independent nonpartisan redistricting. Under my proposal, things like partisanship and the home of the incumbent couldn't be taken into account during redistricting.
I am the Co-Chair of the joint committee on Coastal Flooding and Adaptation, and this issue has been central to my work in the General Assembly. I sponsored the legislation for a Constitutional Amendment, which was voted for by the people of Virginia in 2018, to give localities the ability to provide property tax exemptions for flooding resiliency improvements. I sponsored the bill to create a Resiliency Fund program to help homeowners and businesses make improvements to property to mitigate flooding and sea level rise. I sponsored the legislation creating a cabinet-level position for Coastal Flooding and Adaptation, which also lead to the creation of a fully-developed Coastal Plan. We must fully-fund the Resiliency Fund and continue to promote coastal and flood resiliency. I believe taking a proactive approach will secure the economic future of our region, and cost far less than a reactive approach.
I'm a strong believer in the Second Amendment, but there are a number of common-sense reforms that we can make to reduce gun violence. I support universal background checks, closing the gun show loophole, and red flag laws.
I fought for and helped pass Medicaid Expansion, which provided access to health care to 400,000 Virginians, and strengthened our hospitals, particularly those in rural areas and those who provide charity care. We need to build on that success and also address major issues like the opiod crisis and the need to expand mental health care access. I sponsored legislation to allow localities to create overdose task forces, like the one which has been successful on the Eastern Shore. I support broader investment in mental health care and awareness. I supported and helped pass legislation to end surprise billing by insurance companies. And I have supported efforts to strengthen private employer-provided health insurance.
1. Address school infrastructure by getting the State invested and providing more funds to at-risk schools. 2. Raise teacher pay to the national average, at the very least, and make hiring and retaining the best teachers a real priority again. 3. Increase access to pre-K and early childhood education. 4. Increase the number of counselors in our schools.
I have sponsored and supported legislation to end partisan and political gerrymandering, and firmly believes that voters should pick their legislators, not the other way around. I support and have co-sponsored legislation to allow for no-excuse in-person absentee voting, to make it easier for our citizens to vote. And I support and have sponsored legislation to repeal unnecessary and harmful Voter ID laws.
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