Aftyn Behn
Aftyn Behn (Democratic Party) is a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, representing District 51. She assumed office on October 4, 2023. Her current term ends on November 5, 2024.
Behn (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the Tennessee House of Representatives to represent District 51. She is on the ballot in the general election on November 5, 2024. She advanced from the Democratic primary on August 1, 2024.
Biography
Aftyn Behn earned a degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Behn's career experience includes working as the campaign director of RuralOrganizing.org.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Tennessee House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 51
Incumbent Aftyn Behn and Jeffry Ketelsen are running in the general election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 51 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | ||
 | Aftyn Behn (D) | |
 | Jeffry Ketelsen (Independent) | |
| ||||
 = 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 Tennessee House of Representatives District 51
Incumbent Aftyn Behn advanced from the Democratic primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 51 on August 1, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Aftyn Behn | 100.0 | 3,547 |
| Total votes: 3,547 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2023
See also: Tennessee state legislative special elections, 2023
General election
Special general election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 51
Aftyn Behn defeated David Hooven and Annabelle Lee in the special general election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 51 on September 14, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Aftyn Behn (D) | 75.6 | 10,654 |
 | David Hooven (R) | 21.5 | 3,030 | |
| Annabelle Lee (Independent) | 2.9 | 408 | |
| Total votes: 14,092 | |||
| = 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
Special Democratic primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 51
Aftyn Behn defeated incumbent Anthony Davis in the special Democratic primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 51 on August 3, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Aftyn Behn | 53.5 | 5,267 |
 | Anthony Davis | 46.5 | 4,582 | |
| Total votes: 9,849 | |||
| = 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
Special Republican primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 51
David Hooven advanced from the special Republican primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 51 on August 3, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | David Hooven | 97.9 | 1,515 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 2.1 | 33 | ||
| Total votes: 1,548 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Behn in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Aftyn Behn has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Aftyn Behn asking her to fill out the survey. If you are Aftyn Behn, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?
Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for. More than 19,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.
You can ask Aftyn Behn to fill out this survey by using the buttons below or emailing [email protected].
2023
Aftyn Behn completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Behn's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
As a licensed social worker, I’ve spent my entire career pushing for policies that help working Tennessee families. From driving across the state raising awareness about Trump’s attacks on healthcare to standing up for victims of sexual assault at the legislature, my work advocating for Tennesseans prepares me for the job as your Representative. My relentless pressure campaigns have forced Tennessee’s most extreme politicians to resign and retire. I’ve helped to elect Democrats at every level of government, and I’ve worked tirelessly to build a Tennessee For All. I’ve learned what strategies work and don’t work, and I know that by mobilizing neighborhoods in our district and forging multi-racial coalitions, I can continue to challenge the status quo and extremism.
- Uphold and defend LGBTQIA and reproductive rights, especially as the state criminalizes pregnancy and increases state surveillance of our trans community.
- Stand up to state overreach and introduce tactics I’ve learned from other states to combat the racist, undemocratic state preemption of our cities
- I will push to expand supports for caregivers across the state as they deserve to be respected, protected and paid for the essentialism work they do every day
Fighting corporate monopolies, challenging state overreach, make living in Nashville more affordable, climate justice, abortion access, participatory democracy, stopping the privatization of our public education system, breaking the NRA's stranglehold on Tennessee politics, affordable housing
Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky; Emergent Strategies by Adrienne Marie Brown
Servant leadership means a willingness to listen, vulnerability, empathy, self-awareness, and the desire to create a less toxic, less ego-driven work environment while working with the House Caucus
I helped organize the protests for gun reform after the tragic Covenant shooting and have been an organizer alongside the Tennessee 3 for years. I want to make sure our state protects our kids and families- first and foremost. That includes keeping our kids safe in our schools, fighting for women to have the right to choose if and when to have a family, and protecting our LGTBQ residents from life-threatening government overreach. I will boldly stand up to rogue extremists in the legislature and continue to apply pressure on the bad actors who are hurting our families.
Standing up for my most vulnerability constituencies, organizing to remove extreme Republicans in order to pass progressive policies
Leaving Tennessee a more affordable, safer and better place for our kids
hostess at a local Knoxville restaurant
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
I've Just Seen A Face by The Dillards
Extremism and the unaffordability of daily life
No, as often entrenched and career politicians are the ones holding us back from creating new systems and improving the lives of Tennesseans.
Yes, and as a rural organizer, I plan to build relationships with both Republican and Democratic legislators who want to ensure our rural communities are prosperous by introducing a bill to open an Office of Rural Prosperity.
I admire Ann Richards, former Governor of Texas.
Perhaps, we'll see how this election goes!
Talking to constituents in House District 51, they are struggling to afford to live in Nashville, raise their kids, own a home, and fear the attacks on our communities from the Republican supermajority. I've spoken to many parents of trans kids who fear seeking healthcare in this state. Every story I hear on the campaign trail makes me want to fight even harder for our community.
What's the difference between an accountant and a lawyer? An accountant knows they're boring. (My partner is a lawyer and my brother/father are both accountants.)
In its current condition, absolutely not.
In a state like Tennessee, we cannot negotiate with extremists who have shifted the Overton window so far to the right. We need to work to remove the most extreme Republicans across the state and fight to break the Republican supermajority in 2024.
A progressive tax relief policy that taxes corporations and removes the sales tax (which disproportionately hurts working-class families)
United Rural Democrats
Health, Civil Justice, Local Government
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.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Virginia scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2023, the Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 11 to February 25.
|
See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Tennessee House of Representatives District 51 |
Officeholder Tennessee House of Representatives District 51 |
Personal |
Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bill Beck (D) |
Tennessee House of Representatives District 51 2023-Present |
Succeeded by - |
