Vance Wilkins Explained

Vance Wilkins
Office:53rd Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates
Term Start:January 12, 2000
Term End:June 15, 2002
Predecessor:Tom Moss
Successor:Lacey Putney (acting)
Order1:Minority Leader of the Virginia House of Delegates
Term Start1:November 19, 1991
Term End1:January 12, 2000
Preceded1:Andy Guest
Succeeded1:Richard Cranwell
Office2:Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
Term Start2:January 11, 1978
Term End2:June 15, 2002
Preceded2:Donald G. Pendleton
Succeeded2:Ben Cline
Birthname:Shirley Vance Wilkins Jr.
Birth Date:12 August 1936
Birth Place:Amherst, Virginia, U.S.
Party:Republican
Spouse:Leona Elena Ehlert
Alma Mater:Virginia Tech (BS)
Occupation:General contractor
Branch:United States Air Force
Serviceyears:1958–1960

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.

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]

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: S. Vance Wilkins Jr., Member From: 1978 - 2002 . House History . Virginia House of Delegates Clerk's Office . April 13, 2021 . 2021.
  2. News: Masters . Brooke A. . Shear . Michael D. . U.S. Joins Probe of Phone Snooping; Republicans Investigated for Allegedly Listening to Democrats' Conference Calls . . B4 . 2002-05-09.
  3. News: Melton . R.H. . Va. Speaker Settles Sex Complaint; Wilkins Paid Woman at Least $100,000, Denies Accusations . The Washington Post . A1 . 2002-06-07.
  4. News: Melton . R.H. . Wilkins Resigns As Va. Speaker . November 25, 2020 . The Washington Post . June 14, 2002.