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William Howell
54th Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates
In office January 8, 2003 – January 10, 2018
Preceded by	Lacey Putney (acting)
Succeeded by	Kirk Cox
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 28th district
In office January 8, 1992 – January 10, 2018
Preceded by	Clinton Miller
Succeeded by	Bob Thomas
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 53rd district
In office January 13, 1988 – January 8, 1992
Preceded by	Tom Moncure
Succeeded by	Jim Scott
Personal details
Born	William James Howell (1943-05-08) May 8, 1943 (age 81) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Cecelia Joy Stump
Residence	Falmouth, Virginia
Alma mater	University of Richmond (BS) University of Virginia (LLB)
Signature

William James Howell (born May 8, 1943) is an American attorney and former politician from the Virginia. A member of the Republican Party, he represented the 28th district in the House of Delegates from 1992 until 2018, and served as Speaker of the House of Delegates from 2003 to 2018.

Howell presided over the House of Delegates during a period of Republican dominance in the chamber. During his tenure, he acquired a reputation as a political pragmatist, and faced internal criticism from Republican delegates affiliated with the Tea Party movement. He is also noted for heading Virginia's controversial redistricting efforts following the 2010 census and firmly opposing efforts to expand Medicaid under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Early life and education

William James Howell was born on May 8, 1943, in Washington, D.C., the second of four children of William Fayette Howell and the former Eileen Hill. His father, an employee of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, joined the World Bank in 1946, where he served in a number of executive positions until his death in 1964.

His mother, a native of England and daughter of trade unionist and academic Levi Hill, accompanied her father on a lecture tour of the United States, where she met her future husband. About a year after Howell's birth, the family moved to Alexandria, Virginia, where he grew up. Howell was raised in a civically active family and described both of his parents as "New Deal Democrats." Citing a need to discover his own political philosophy while at college, he spent a summer reading different authors from across the ideological spectrum and was eventually influenced by the conservative ideas of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan.

After graduating from Fairfax High School in 1960, he studied business administration at the University of Richmond, where his classmates included Robert S. Jepson, Jr. and Leslie M. Baker, Jr. He attended the University of Virginia School of Law and was admitted to the state bar in 1967.

Career

Legal career and community involvement

House of Delegates service and speakership

In 1987, three-term incumbent Republican delegate Thomas M. Moncure Jr. announced that he would not be seeking reelection. Howell ran for the open seat at the urging of state senator John Chichester and easily won the three-way race against Democrat Thomas Savage and Independent Al Fagan.

In 2017, Howell announced that he would not seek reelection, retiring at the end of his term. Later that week, Kirk Cox, who had served under Howell as the House Majority Leader since 2010, was unanimously elected by the General Assembly House Republican Caucus as their choice for the next speaker.

Later career

He also serves as chairman of the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission. After leaving office, he joined McGuireWoods Consulting in 2018.

Personal life

Howell married Cecelia Joy "Cessie" Stump in 1966. They live in Falmouth in Stafford County, Virginia. The couple had two sons, William Fayette Howell, II and Leland Jack Howell. The couple has seven grandchildren. Howell is a deeply religious Baptist, and, in the 1990s, along with Bob McDonnell, Randy Forbes, and one other delegate, he founded a prayer group and Bible study that meets weekly when the Virginia General Assembly is in session.

Electoral history

References

1. Vozzella, Laura; Schneider, Gregory S. (February 20, 2017). "Va. House Speaker William Howell, a pragmatic Republican, will not run again". Washington Post. Retrieved August 5, 2024. Presiding over that growing majority became tricky with the rise of more conservative, tea-party-affiliated members, who looked askance at Howell's pragmatic streak.
2. ^ Vozzella, Laura; Schneider, Gregory S. (February 20, 2017). "Va. House Speaker William Howell, a pragmatic Republican, will not run again". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 26, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
3. Mason, Edward S.; Asher, Robert E. (December 2010). The World Bank since Bretton Woods. ISBN 978-0815720300. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
4. "Howell, William F. | Archives". Archived from the original on April 18, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
5. ^ Sherrod, Bill. "Speaking from Experience". Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
6. ^ "Log Cabin Lawyer: William J. Howell '67 Quietly Leads Virginia's House of Delegates". Archived from the original on April 18, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
7. "Hammond Alums Are Feeling Blue (And White) | Alexandria Times | Alexandria, VA". September 10, 2009. Archived from the original on April 18, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
8. Chase, Dawn (2008). "Virginia Lawyer-Legislators" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on June 2, 2022. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
9. "Delegate Kirk Cox elected as the next Speaker of the House". The Progress-Index. February 22, 2017. Archived from the original on May 17, 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
10. "The Civil War Sesquicentennial in Virginia: Final Impact and Lasting Legacies". 2015. Archived from the original on May 23, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
11. "Former House speaker joins McGuireWoods Consulting". Richmond Times-Dispatch. July 15, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
12. "General Election- November 3, 1987". Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
13. "General Election- November 7, 1989". Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
14. "General Election- November 5, 1991". Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
15. "November 2, 1993 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
16. "General Election- November 7, 1995". Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
17. "General Election- November 4, 1997". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on October 1, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
18. "Election Results - House of Delegates - Nov 1999 Gen Election". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on December 28, 2012. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
19. "General Election- November 6, 2001". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on December 29, 2012. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
20. "General Election- November 4, 2003". Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
21. "General Election- November 8, 2005". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on December 28, 2012. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
22. "November 6, 2007 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
23. "November 2009 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
24. "November 2011 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2013.
25. "November 2013 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on April 6, 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
26. "November 2015 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.

External links

• Appearances on C-SPAN

v t e Speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates
Pendleton Wythe B. Harrison Lee Tyler B. Harrison Prentis Mathews Wise Smith E. Harrison Holmes Johnston Nelson Barbour Stevenson Stanard Banks Gilmer Southall Holleman Southall Goode Jones Strother H. Hopkins G. Hopkins Crutchfield Kemper Sheffey Baldwin Turner Hanger Allen Lacy Fowler Stuart R. Cardwell Ryan Saunders Ryan W. Cardwell Byrd E. Cox Houston Brewer Ozlin Brown Dovell Stanley Massenburg Moore Cooke Philpott Moss Wilkins Howell K. Cox Filler-Corn Gilbert Scott
Category Commons

• 1943 births
• Living people
• Fairfax High School (Fairfax, Virginia) alumni
• Politicians from Washington, D.C.
• People from Falmouth, Virginia
• University of Richmond alumni
• University of Virginia School of Law alumni
• Speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates
• Republican Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates
• Politicians from Alexandria, Virginia
• McGuireWoods people
• 21st-century members of the Virginia General Assembly