{{short description|American politician}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Brandon Hixon |image = File:Brandon Hixon holding a fish.jpg |office = Member of the Idaho House of Representatives<br />from District 10 Seat A |term_start = December 1, 2012 |term_end = October 19, 2017 |predecessor = Gayle Batt |successor = Jarom Wagoner |birth_name = Brandon Antone Hixon |birth_date = {{birth date|1981|10|26}} |birth_place = Salmon, Idaho, U.S. |death_date = {{death date and age|2018|01|09|1981|10|26}} |death_place = Caldwell, Idaho, U.S. |death_cause = Suicide by gunshot |party = Republican |spouse = |children = 5 |alma_mater = Idaho State University<br />Boise State University |profession = |website = }}

'''Brandon Antone Hixon''' (October 26, 1981 – January 9, 2018) was an American politician and an Idaho Republican Party member of the Idaho House of Representatives from 2012 to 2017, representing District 10, Seat A.<ref name="PVS">{{cite web |url= http://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/137002 |title= Representative Brandon Hixon's Biography |publisher= Project Vote Smart |accessdate= October 17, 2013}}</ref> He resigned in late 2017 while under criminal investigation and killed himself in January 2018.

==Education== Hixon, a fourth-generation Idahoan, was born in 1981 and raised in Salmon, Idaho.<ref name=Hixon>[https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/coroner-former-lawmaker-brandon-hixon-dies-of-self-inflicted-gunshot/article_3f763133-0dcc-5343-8822-9c7099afc1eb.html Coroner: Former lawmaker Brandon Hixon dies of self-inflicted gunshot wound]</ref><ref name="ISL">{{cite web |url= http://legislature.idaho.gov/house/membershipSingle.cfm?ID=2064 |title= House Membership: Brandon A. Hixon |publisher= Idaho Legislature |location= Boise, Idaho |accessdate= October 17, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130915132356/http://legislature.idaho.gov/house/membershipSingle.cfm?ID=2064 |archive-date= September 15, 2013 |url-status= dead }}</ref> He graduated from Salmon High School. He went on to graduate from Idaho State University with a degree in construction management.<ref name=Hixon /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://hixoninthehouse.com/about-brandon/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410055546/http://hixoninthehouse.com/about-brandon/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2017-04-10|title=About Brandon - Brandon Hixon for Idaho House of Representatives -|date=2017-04-10|access-date=2017-10-19}}</ref>

==Elections== ===2012=== Hixon ran against Jarom Wagoner for the Republican nomination winning with 51.5% of the vote.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sos.idaho.gov/elect/RESULTS/2012/Primary/tot_leg.htm|title=2012 Primary Results legislative|website=sos.idaho.gov|access-date=2017-10-19}}</ref>

Hixon won on the November 6, 2012, general election with 6,677 votes (54.0%) against Democratic nominee Travis Manning.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sos.idaho.gov/elect/RESULTS/2012/general/tot_leg.htm|title=2012 General Results Legislative|website=sos.idaho.gov|access-date=2017-10-19}}</ref>

===2014=== Hixon was unopposed in the May Republican Primary.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sos.idaho.gov/elect/results/2014/Primary/legislative_totals.html|title=2014 Primary Legislative Totals|website=sos.idaho.gov|access-date=2017-10-19}}</ref>

Hixon defeated Manning again, winning with 58.9% of the vote.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sos.idaho.gov/elect/results/2014/General/legislative_totals.html|title=2014 General Legislative Totals|website=sos.idaho.gov|access-date=2017-10-19}}</ref>

===2016=== Hixon was unopposed in the May Republican Primary.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sos.idaho.gov/elect/results/2016/Primary/legislative_totals.html|title=2016 Primary Legislative Totals|website=www.sos.idaho.gov|access-date=2017-04-09}}</ref>

Hixon defeated Jeremy Lopett in the general election winning with 67.0% of the vote.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sos.idaho.gov/elect/results/2016/General/legislative_totals.html|title=2016 General Legislative Totals|website=www.sos.idaho.gov|access-date=2017-04-09}}</ref>

== Criminal investigation and resignation == On October 18, 2017, the Caldwell, Idaho, police department confirmed that Hixon was the subject of a criminal investigation.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://apnews.com/f9e2ae2cdbcc4a49ac9aa02f784670b8|title=Police launch investigation involving Idaho lawmaker|work=AP News|access-date=2017-10-19|language=en-US}}</ref> On October 19, 2017, Hixon submitted his letter of resignation via email to House Speaker Scott Bedke and Governor Butch Otter,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/boise/2017/oct/20/hixon-resigns-legislature-amid-criminal-investigation/|title=Hixon resigns from Legislature amid criminal investigation|work=Spokesman.com|access-date=2017-10-20|language=en}}</ref> effective immediately.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://legacy.idahostatesman.com/hixon_letter.pdf|title=Hixon Letter|last=|first=|date=|website=|access-date=}}</ref> On October 26, 2017, the Caldwell Police Department turned the criminal investigation over to the Idaho Attorney General's Office.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.ktvb.com/news/crime/idaho-ag-to-continue-criminal-investigation-into-lawmaker/486525287|title=Idaho AG to continue criminal investigation into lawmaker|last=TEGNA|work=KTVB|access-date=2017-10-27|language=en-US}}</ref> On October 31, 2017, it was reported that Hixon was under investigation for "sexual abuse allegations" from a police report dated October 25, 2017.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article181973131.html|title=Former Caldwell lawmaker is under investigation for sexual abuse|work=idahostatesman|access-date=2017-11-15|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/boise/2017/nov/01/hixon-investigation-involves-sexual-abuse-allegations/|title=Hixon investigation involves sexual abuse allegations|work=Spokesman.com|access-date=2017-11-15|language=en}}</ref>

In January 2018, an article in the ''Idaho Statesman'' cited police records indicating Hixon was suspected of repeated and protracted sexual abuse of two minor females, one of them a relative.<ref>Cynthia Sewll and Ruth Brown (Jan 24, 2018). [http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/crime/article196414709.html] The Idaho Statesman, accessed Jan 25, 2018</ref> He killed himself before the case was taken before a grand jury and was never charged with any crime.

==Personal life and death== Hixon and his wife, Danielle, had five children.<ref>[https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/elections/r-district-house-seat-a-brandon-hixon/article_534ecdac-1716-11e2-afce-001a4bcf887a.html (R) District 10 House Seat A: Brandon Hixon]</ref> They divorced in 2016.<ref name=Hixon /> Not all of his children were with his wife, Danielle. In 2004 and 2005 Brandon fathered two children with Ashley Jo Graham, to whom he was never married.

On January 9, 2018, a family member found Hixon dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head at his home in Caldwell, Idaho.<ref name=Hixon /> He was 36 years old.<ref>[http://www.ktvb.com/news/local/former-caldwell-rep-brandon-hixon-found-dead-in-home/506545934 Former Caldwell Rep. Brandon Hixon found dead in home]</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20130915132356/http://legislature.idaho.gov/house/membershipSingle.cfm?ID=2064 Brandon A. Hixon] at the Idaho Legislature *[https://web.archive.org/web/20160705102726/http://hixoninthehouse.com/ Archived Campaign Site]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hixon, Brandon}} Category:1981 births Category:2018 deaths Category:Boise State University alumni Category:Idaho State University alumni Category:Republican Party members of the Idaho House of Representatives Category:Politicians from Caldwell, Idaho Category:People from Salmon, Idaho Category:Suicides by firearm in Idaho Category:American politicians who died by suicide Category:2018 suicides Category:21st-century members of the Idaho Legislature