Vance Wilkins

Last updated

Vance Wilkins
Delegate Wilkins 1988.jpg
Official portrait, 1978
53rd Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates
In office
January 12, 2000 June 15, 2002
Personal details
Born
Shirley Vance Wilkins Jr.

(1936-08-12) August 12, 1936 (age 87)
Amherst, Virginia, U.S.
Political party Republican
SpouseLeona Elena Ehlert
Alma mater Virginia Tech (BS)
OccupationGeneral contractor
Military service
AllegianceFlag of the United States.svg United States
Branch/service United States Air Force
Years of service1958–1960

Shirley Vance Wilkins Jr. (born August 12, 1936) is a retired American politician of the Republican Party. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1978 to 2002. In 2000 he became the first-ever Republican Speaker of the Virginia House and first non-Democratic Speaker since the Readjuster Party controlled the House in the early 1880s.

Contents

Wilkins was considered the driving force in the expansion of Republican House membership in the 1980s and 1990s, especially after he became minority leader in 1992. In his first term as Speaker, he oversaw the redistricting of the House after the 2000 census that led to an increase in the Republican majority from 52–47 (1 independent) to 64–34 (2 independents) after the November 2001 election.

Voting record

The Republican political record of Vance Wilkins is well-summarized by the Virginia state website: "Vance Wilkins was a strong conservative, working for lower taxes, right-to-work laws, and gun-ownership rights." Wilkins supported the Republican values of limited sex education and limited abortion, in a county - Amherst, Virginia - which had the highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation during his tenure. [1]

Eavesdropping scandal

In March 2002, Republican Party of Virginia Chairman Edmund Matricardi III (R) pled guilty to eavesdropping on a Democratic Party conference call. State Attorney General Jerry Kilgore (R) investigated, which expanded to include Speaker Vance Wilkins and his chief of staff, Claudia D. Tucker, who pled guilty resigned, was fined $1,000 and given a year probation. [2]

Resignation from Virginia House and House Speakership due to multiple sexual harassment accusations

June 7–14, 2002, The Washington Post reported that executives of Wilkins' former construction company had revealed that Wilkins had paid $100,000 to a former political staffer, Jennifer L. Thompson, to keep quiet about "unwelcome sexual advances" by Wilkins. Multiple women came forward subsequently, claiming similar harassment - so the Post says he may have resigned to avoid further public contempt. [3] Under pressure from Kilgore and his own Republican caucus, Wilkins resigned as Speaker a week later, and then resigned from the House shortly afterward. [4]

Notes

  1. "S. Vance Wilkins Jr., Member From: 1978 - 2002". House History. Virginia House of Delegates Clerk's Office. 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  2. Masters, Brooke A.; Shear, Michael D. (May 9, 2002). "U.S. Joins Probe of Phone Snooping; Republicans Investigated for Allegedly Listening to Democrats' Conference Calls". The Washington Post . p. B4.
  3. Melton, R.H. (June 7, 2002). "Va. Speaker Settles Sex Complaint; Wilkins Paid Woman at Least $100,000, Denies Accusations". The Washington Post. p. A1.
  4. Melton, R.H. (June 14, 2002). "Wilkins Resigns As Va. Speaker". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
Virginia House of Delegates
Preceded by
Donald G. Pendleton
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the 11th district

January 11, 1978–January 12, 1983
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the 24th district

January 12, 1983–June 15, 2002
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minority Leader of the Virginia House of Delegates
November 19, 1991–January 12, 2000
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates
January 12, 2000–June 15, 2002
Succeeded by

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Kilgore (politician)</span> American lawyer

Jerry Walter Kilgore is an American attorney and politician. A Republican, he served as Attorney General of Virginia from 2002 to 2005 and was the Republican nominee for Governor of Virginia in 2005, losing to Democratic nominee Tim Kaine. He is a partner with the law firm Cozen O'Connor and is a member of the firm's leading State Attorneys General practice in Washington, D.C. He also serves as finance chair of the Republican Party of Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republican Party of Virginia</span> Political party in Virginia

The Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) is the Virginia chapter of the Republican Party. It is based at the Richard D. Obenshain Center in Richmond.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald McEachin</span> American politician (1961–2022)

Aston Donald McEachin was an American politician and lawyer who served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 4th congressional district from 2017 until his death in 2022. His district was based in the state capital, Richmond; it included much of the area between Richmond, a portion of its suburbs, and Hampton Roads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Moran</span> American politician

Brian Joseph Moran is an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He served as Virginia Secretary of Public Safety from 2014 to 2022, and was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1996 until 2008, representing Northern Virginia's 46th district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M. Caldwell Butler</span> American politician

Manley Caldwell Butler was an American lawyer and politician widely admired for his integrity, bipartisanship and courage. A native of Roanoke, Butler served his hometown and wider community first as a member of the Republican Party in the Virginia General Assembly (1962–1972) and later the United States House of Representatives (1972–1983).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lacey Putney</span> American politician

Lacey Edward Putney was an American politician. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from January 1962 until January 2014, making him the longest-serving member in the history of the Virginia General Assembly and one of the longest-serving state legislators in American history. He represented a district centered around his hometown of Bedford for his entire career, and at various times represented parts of neighboring Bedford and Botetourt counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phillip Puckett</span> American politician

Phillip P. Puckett is an American politician. A Democrat, he was elected to the Senate of Virginia in 1998 and resigned on June 9, 2014. He represented the 38th district, made up of five counties and parts of four others in the southwestern part of the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Cranwell</span> American lawyer and politician

Charles Richard "Dick" Cranwell is an American lawyer and Democratic Party politician. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates 1972–2001, and was its Democratic floor leader 1991–2001. From 2005 to 2010, he was chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Kilgore</span> American politician

Terry Gene Kilgore is an American attorney and politician. A Republican, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1993, and became chair of the Commerce and Labor committee in 2008. He currently represents the 1st district in the far southwestern corner of the state, near Cumberland Gap. He graduated with a B.A. from the University of Virginia's College at Wise, previously named Clinch Valley College, and a J.D. from the College of William & Mary's School of Law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 Virginia elections</span>

The following offices were up for election in the United States Commonwealth of Virginia in the November 2009 general election:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. L. Philpott</span> American politician

Albert Lee Philpott was an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates for 33 years starting in 1958, and was its Speaker from 1980 until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eileen Filler-Corn</span> American politician (born 1964)

Eileen Robin Filler-Corn is an American lawyer and politician who served as the Minority Leader of the Virginia House of Delegates from January to April 2022, a position she previously held from 2019 to 2020. She previously served as the 56th Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates from 2020 to 2022. She represented the 41st district in the Fairfax County suburbs of Washington, D.C., from 2010 to 2024. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She is also the first woman and Jewish person to serve as Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Virginia elections</span>

The following offices were up for election in the United States Commonwealth of Virginia in the November 5, 2013 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Virginia gubernatorial election</span> Election for the governorship of the U.S. state of Virginia

The 2017 Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2017. Incumbent Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe was unable to run for re-election, as the Constitution of Virginia prohibits the officeholder from serving consecutive terms; he later ran unsuccessfully for a second term in 2021.

Thomas McCarty Moncure Jr. is a Virginia lawyer and Republican politician who served part-time as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing his native Fredericksburg between 1982 and 1988, initially along with all of Stafford County, Virginia, but later with only parts of Stafford County as well as parts of Fauquier County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Virginia House of Delegates election</span>

The 2017 Virginia House of Delegates election was held on Tuesday, November 7. All 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates were contested. The Republican Party held a 66–34 majority in the House of Delegates before the election but lost 15 seats to the Democratic Party, resulting in the Republicans holding a 50–49 advantage.

Mary Aydelotte Rice Marshall was an American civic activist, housewife and Democratic politician who represented Arlington, Virginia in the Virginia General Assembly for more than twenty years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Virginia elections</span>

The 2021 Virginia elections were held on Tuesday, November 2, 2021. Republicans swept all three statewide races and won back control of the House of Delegates in an upset. Primary elections were held on June 8, 2021. It was the first state gubernatorial and legislative election to be held since the passage of several voting rights bills into law by the Democratic trifecta in the 161st Virginia General Assembly, including expansions of early voting, designation of Election Day as a paid state holiday, legalization of automatic and same-day voter registration, the Voting Rights Act of Virginia, and repeal of Voter ID laws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 Virginia Attorney General election</span>

The 2009 Virginia attorney general election took place in Virginia on November 3, 2009. Incumbent Attorney General Bob McDonnell was eligible for re-election, but instead opted to successfully run for Governor of Virginia. McDonnell resigned from his position in 2009 to run for governor, being succeeded by his deputy, Bill Mims.