Summary

About

Source: From former campaign website

Currently the Richmond GOP Chairman for the Republican Party of Richmond City.
Leon Benjamin is the Senior Pastor and Bishop of New Life Harvest Church in Richmond, VA
Bishop Benjamin is the president and founder of Coalition of Leaders United (CLU)
A strong advocate in engaging with African-American churches to support President Trump
Bishop Benjamin has appeared on Fox News and numerous national TV and radio talk shows

UNITY VISION & MISSION
What We Believe In
Throughout the first year of Trump’s presidency, Bishop Benjamin has played a vital role in a group of about 20 to 30 evangelical leaders who regularly serve as informal advisers to the Trump administration. Bishop Benjamin is currently the Richmond GOP Chairman for the Republican Party of Richmond City.

As a community activist, Bishop Benjamin has worked with public officials, civic and community leaders to make a difference in the areas of education, business development, and economic reform.  He is a Senior Fellow for the National Minority Technology Council where he services National Faith-based Liaison and Advisor to the Council.

Bishop Benjamin is the president and founder of Coalition of Leaders United (CLU) dedicated to advancing conservative values and restoration of moral clarity in America.  As a change agent for healing and reconciliation in our nation, the core of Dr. Benjamin’s message is ““It’s time to unify, America!”

Bishop Benjamin has been a strong advocate in engaging with African-American churches to support President Trump’s vision to restore economic prosperity, educational opportunity and safer communities with less crime in urban inner cities.

He is also the founder of United2Pray, a national movement to intercede weekly on a conference call with evangelical pastors and the faith community to pray for the president and future of our nation.

Bishop Benjamin has appeared on Fox News and numerous national TV and radio talk shows and is a sought-after speaker on the moral, economic, and spiritual impact of socioeconomic issues and political discourse on the black community and the nation.

A native of Richmond, VA, he graduated from Huguenot High School and attended University of Virginia and Virginia Union University for engineering. Bishop Leon Benjamin received his Bachelors in Biblical Studies and Masters in Christian Education at Rovear University.  He is married to his soul mate and partner in ministry, Pastor Maria Benjamin, and through their union they have three beautiful children – Delcarmen and Leon Jr., and Destiny Benjamin.

Offices

Campaign
Phone: 804-214-7564 info

Web

Campaign Site

Politics

Source: none

Issues

Source: Campaign page

The eleven counties in VA4 have diverse economic profiles, as shown. Urban communities have substantially higher incomes than rural communities. As such, in concert with numerous community development experts, I plan to implement a rural revitalization program for small and small farms towns–many of which have not recovered from the 2009 Recession. For more detail on my rural revitalization program, refer to our Jobenomics Rural Virginia initiative in the Jobenomics section. While our rural revitalization program has many turnkey programs, this initiative is still in the development phase and will require your input and support to implement within my first term in Congress. As such, I plan to hold town hall meetings in each county before the election to generate federal support and funding on day-one in Washington. Even though VA4’s urban communities have higher household incomes, significant income disparities (inequalities) exist. This median household income map of Richmond is representative of the income disparities of other VA4 urban areas (Petersburg, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Wakefield, Emporia, and Franklin). The light-colored areas of this map show low-income areas (Mosby neighborhood has the lowest income at $9,888) and the red-colored the highest (Wilton $231,750). As your representative, my goal is to concentrate on raising the lowest-income neighborhoods by enlisting private sector financing and support from the wealthiest neighborhoods. As President Lincoln said, we “cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred,” nor can we “help the poor by destroying the rich.” Moreover, as coined by President Kennedy, “a rising tide lifts all boats.” On 28 December 2019, I held our first town hall meeting on Jobenomics Richmond. Jobenomics Richmond is a proposed program for creating mixed-use, master-planned, locally-owned, live-work communities in under-resourced areas in Richmond with an emphasis on obtaining Qualified Opportunity Zone funding. This program will serve as a pilot program for other VA4 urban areas. For more detail on this urban renewal initiative, refer to our Jobenomics Richmond whitepaper and presentation here and in the Jobenomics section.