Preceded by Frank W. Nolen Children Five (5) Preceded by Lewis W. Parker, Jr. Name Emmett Hanger | Succeeded by I. Clinton Miller Role Virginia State Senator Spouse Sharon Hanger | |
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Full Name Emmett Wilson Hanger, Jr. Born August 2, 1948Staunton, Virginia, U.S. ( 1948 -08-02 ) | ||
Education James Madison University |
Senator emmett hanger discusses upcoming general assembly
Emmett Wilson Hanger Jr. (born August 2, 1948, in Staunton, Virginia) is an American politician of the Republican Party. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1983 to 1991, when he was unseated by Creigh Deeds. Since 1996 he has been a member of the Senate of Virginia. He currently represents the 24th district. This district, located in the central Shenandoah Valley and nearby sections of the Blue Ridge Mountains, includes the independent cities of Staunton, and Waynesboro, as well as Augusta County, Greene County, Madison County, and parts of Rockingham County and Culpeper County. He is a member of the Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources, Finance, Local Government, and Rehabilitation and Social Services committees. Though he is a Republican, Emmett Hanger is known for his open support of Medicaid expansion. Two other Republicans in the Virginia Senate voted with Hanger to push Medicaid expansion through the Senate- John Watkins and Walter Stosch, both of whom have opted out of running another term.

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 (AFP) group began, according to Hanger, “an attempt to intimidate me” in the AFP group's campaign to oppose "Obamacare" in the state of Virginia. 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.