Stanford Parris

{{Infobox officeholder

|birth_name = Stanford Elmer Parris

| image = Stanford Parris.jpg

| birth_date = {{birth date|1929|09|09}}

| birth_place = Champaign, Illinois, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2010|03|27|1929|09|09}}

| death_place = Mathews County, Virginia, U.S.

| state = Virginia

| district = 8th

| term_start = January 3, 1981

| term_end = January 3, 1991

| preceded = Herbert Harris

| succeeded = Jim Moran

| order2=

| term_start2 = January 3, 1973

| term_end2 = January 3, 1975

| preceded2 = William L. Scott

| succeeded2 = Herbert Harris

| office3 = Member of the Virginia House of Delegates

| term_start3 = April 11, 1969

| term_end3 = November 21, 1972

| preceded3 = Guy Farley

| succeeded3 = Jim Tate

| constituency3 = {{ubl|20th district (1969–1972)|19th district (1972)}}

| order4 = Member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors from the Mason district

| term_start4 = 1964

| term_end4 = 1967

| preceded4 = Anne A. Wilkins

| succeeded4 = Harold O. Miller

| party = Republican

| spouse =

| children =

| residence= Alexandria, Virginia, U.S.

| allegiance = {{flag|United States|1912}}

| branch = United States Air Force

| serviceyears = 1950–1954

| rank = First lieutenant

| commands =

| unit =

| battles = Korean War

| mawards = 20px Dist. Flying Cross
20px Purple Heart
20px Air Medal

| alma_mater= University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
George Washington University

}}Stanford Elmer Parris (September 9, 1929 – March 27, 2010) was an American lawyer and Republican politician. He represented Virginia's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 1991. He served in the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Virginia House of Delegates, and also as Virginia Secretary of the Commonwealth. He served in the United States Air Force during the Korean War, earning several medals.

Early life

Parris was born in Champaign, Illinois and educated in the public schools there. He earned a B.S. at University of Illinois (1950), and an LL.B. at the George Washington University (1958) while working as a doorkeeper at the United States Senate. He was a U.S. Air Force F-84 Thunderjet jet fighter aircraft pilot in the Korean War, and was shot down once and rescued.{{cite news|title='Two-Gun Stan' Parris Enjoys Being Seen-And Heard|first=Kent Jr.|last=Jenkins|format=Fee|access-date=2009-08-15|date=October 25, 1988|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1286351.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026104432/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1286351.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 26, 2012}} His military decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross with cluster, Air Medal with clusters, Purple Heart, Presidential Unit Citation (Korea), and Presidential Unit Citation (United States).{{cite news|title=Longtime lawmaker was also combat pilot|date=March 28, 2010|work=The Virginian Pilot via The Associated Press|pages=HR–7}} Following his discharge from the military, Parris worked briefly as an airline pilot, before starting law school. He was admitted to the bar in 1958, and set up a private law practice in Alexandria, Virginia. Parris was president of a Chrysler dealership in Woodbridge, Virginia and the Flying Circus Aerodrome, an air show.

Politics

Parris was elected to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and served one term (1964–1967). In 1969, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates and served from April 11, 1969, to November 21, 1972. During that time he made a controversial comment when he joked that the 14th Street Bridge between Virginia and Washington, DC was the "longest in the world" because it "stretches from Northern Virginia to Africa."{{cite news |title=Racial Note Injected into Cable TV Rivalry |work=The Evening Star |date=5 March 1972}} Nonetheless, he was elected in 1972 to the United States House of Representatives, but lost his 1974 reelection bid to Democrat Herb Harris in the post-Watergate scandal. However, in the 1980 House elections, he defeated Harris by 1,090 votes. He sought his party's nomination for the 1985 election of Governor of Virginia, but withdrew in May.{{cite book|first=Frank B.|last=Atkinson|title=Virginia in the Vanguard: Political Leadership in the 400-Year-Old Cradle of American Democracy, 1981–2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BqputiyLQ3QC&q=parris&pg=PA57|accessdate=2009-08-15 |edition=Cloth |date=July 2006 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield and University of Virginia Center for Politics|isbn=978-0-7425-5210-4 |pages=57–59, 48}} In 1989, Parris again ran for Governor of Virginia. He lost in the Republican primary to former Attorney General Marshall Coleman and former United States Senator Paul S. Trible. He also served a term as Virginia Secretary of the Commonwealth in the late 1970s.{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=P000080|title=PARRIS, Stanford E.|publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|accessdate=March 30, 2010}}

In the 93rd Congress, Parris was a member of the House Committee on Science and Technology, its subcommittees on Aeronautics and Space Technology, Science, Research, and Development and Energy.{{cite web|url=http://science.house.gov/docs/Committee_History_50years.pdf|page=117|title=A History of the Committee on Science and Technology|date=September 25, 2009|access-date=2009-08-16|publisher=House Committee on Science and Technology|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090814081052/http://science.house.gov/docs/Committee_History_50years.pdf|archive-date=August 14, 2009}} Economic woes and a federal budget stalemate contributed to his 1990 election loss to then Alexandria mayor James P. Moran Jr.{{cite book |author-link=Larry Sabato |first=Larry |last=Sabato |title=Virginia Votes 1987–1990 |pages=102–103|quote=also cited in Atkinson, p. 113 fh. 81}} Parris was also known for introducing a bill during his first term which prohibited the National Football League from imposing television blackouts of non-sold-out games. His position as the ranking Republican member of the House District Committee often put him at odds with the city government of the District of Columbia, and resulted in frequent quarreling with the mayor, Marion Barry.

Parris thought about running for the United States Senate in 1982 after Harry F. Byrd Jr. retired, but opted to run for reelection to the House after Harris sought to regain his old seat. He defeated Harris by 1,600 votes, spending $700,000 in Virginia's most expensive congressional campaign up to that point.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/27/AR2010032701576.html|title=Stanford E. Parris, 80, dies; N.Va. member of Congress|last=Schudel|first=Matt|date=March 29, 2010|newspaper=The Washington Post|accessdate=March 30, 2010}} He defeated State Senator Dick Saslaw with somewhat less difficulty in 1984, and easily defeated underfunded Democrats in 1986 and 1988. However, in 1990, he lost to Alexandria mayor Jim Moran by seven points in what is still considered an upset. During the campaign, Parris, referring to the issue of the Gulf War, said, "The only three people I know who support Saddam Hussein's position are Moammar Gadhafi, Yasser Arafat, and Jim Moran." Moran angrily responded by saying that Parris was "a deceitful, fatuous jerk", and that he wanted "to break his nose".{{cite news|last=Fiske|first=Warren|title=8th District Face-Off of Parris, Moran Spiciest of VA. Contests|newspaper=The Virginian-Pilot|date=November 1, 1990}}{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34959.html|title=Staff held Jim Moran back from protesters|date=March 24, 2010|publisher=Politico|accessdate=March 29, 2010|author=Allen, Jonathan}} Moran's well-financed campaign also focused on Parris' opposition to abortion. Moran upset Parris, winning by 7.1 percent.{{cite news|last=Jenkins|first=Kent|title=Moran Takes 8th District From Parris|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=November 7, 1990}}{{cite web|url=http://frwebgate.access.gpo.go/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_congressional_directory&docid=111th_txt-47.pdf |title=Congressional Directory – Jim Moran |date=December 2009 |publisher=Congressional Directory |pages=276–277 |accessdate=March 10, 2010 }}{{dead link|date=April 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

President George H. W. Bush appointed him to a seven-year term as President of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation in 1991, weeks after he left Congress. He resigned four years later to run for a seat in the Virginia Senate.{{cite news|url=http://www.duluthport.com/joc/joc110398.html |first=Davis |last=Helberg |date=November 3, 1998 |access-date=2009-08-15 |title=Principles and Politics |work=The Journal of Commerce |publisher=Seaway Port Authority |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030123033415/http://www.duluthport.com/joc/joc110398.html |archive-date=January 23, 2003 }} His primary residence after leaving Congress was in Melbourne, Florida; but he also owned property in Mathews County, Virginia.

Death

Stanford Parris died from heart disease on March 27, 2010, at his home in Mathews County in eastern Virginia. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.{{cite news|url=http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/state_regional/state_regional_govtpolitics/article/former_6-term_n.va._congressman_stan_parris_dies/333396/|title=Former six-term Rep. Stanford E. Parris dies at 80|last=Schapiro|first=Jeff|date=March 27, 2010|publisher=Richmond Times-Dispatch|accessdate=March 28, 2010}}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Following the death of Parris, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell said in a statement that Parris "played major leadership roles" in endeavors as varied as the establishment of the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Old Town Alexandria to flood control and closing the District of Columbia's former Lorton Reformatory in Fairfax County, Virginia, and that "He used his time on this Earth to help others, and to effectively advance the ideas and principles in which he believed."{{cite news|url=http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/state_regional/state_regional_govtpolitics/article/mcdonnell_praises_parris_accomplishments/333403/|title=McDonnell praises Parris' accomplishments|date=March 27, 2010|publisher=The Richmond Times-Dispatch|accessdate=March 28, 2010}}{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Electoral history

! Year

! Subject

! Party

! Votes

! %

! Opponent

! Party

! Votes

! %

! Opponent

! Party

! Votes

! %

|1972

|{{party shading/Republican}} |Stanford Parris

|{{party shading/Republican}} |Republican

|{{party shading/Republican}} |60,446

|{{party shading/Republican}} |44.4

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |Robert F. Horan

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |Democratic

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |51,444

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |37.7

|{{party shading/Independent}} |William Durland

|{{party shading/Independent}} |Independent

|{{party shading/Independent}} |18,654

|{{party shading/Independent}} |13.7

|colspan=5|

|1974

|{{party shading/Republican}} |Stanford Parris

|{{party shading/Republican}} |Republican

|{{party shading/Republican}} |38,997

|{{party shading/Republican}} |42.3

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |Herbert E. Harris

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |Democratic

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |53,074

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |57.6

|colspan=5|

|1980

|{{party shading/Republican}} |Stanford Parris

|{{party shading/Republican}} |Republican

|{{party shading/Republican}} |95,624

|{{party shading/Republican}} |48.8

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |Herbert E. Harris

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |Democratic

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |94,530

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |48.2

|{{party shading/Independent}} |Deborah Frantz

|{{party shading/Independent}} |Independent

|{{party shading/Independent}} |5,729

|{{party shading/Independent}} |3.0

|colspan=5|

|1982

|{{party shading/Republican}} |Stanford Parris

|{{party shading/Republican}} |Republican

|{{party shading/Republican}} |69,620

|{{party shading/Republican}} |49.7

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |Herbert E. Harris

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |Democratic

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |68,071

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |48.5

|{{party shading/Independent}} |Austin W. Morrill

|{{party shading/Independent}} |Independent

|{{party shading/Independent}} |2,373

|{{party shading/Independent}} |1.6

|colspan=5|

|1984

|{{party shading/Republican}} |Stanford Parris

|{{party shading/Republican}} |Republican

|{{party shading/Republican}} |125,015

|{{party shading/Republican}} |55.7

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |Richard L. Saslaw

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |Democratic

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |97,250

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |43.3

|{{party shading/Independent}} |Donald Carpenter

|{{party shading/Independent}} |Independent

|{{party shading/Independent}} |1,814

|{{party shading/Independent}} |0.8

|colspan=5|

|1986

|{{party shading/Republican}} |Stanford Parris

|{{party shading/Republican}} |Republican

|{{party shading/Republican}} |72,670

|{{party shading/Republican}} |61.7

|{{party shading/Democratic}} | James H. Boren

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |Democratic

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |44,965

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |38.2

|colspan=5|

|1988

|{{party shading/Republican}} |Stanford Parris

|{{party shading/Republican}} |Republican

|{{party shading/Republican}} |154,761

|{{party shading/Republican}} |62.3

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |David G. Brickley

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |Democratic

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |93,561

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |37.6

|colspan=5|

|1990

|{{party shading/Republican}} |Stanford Parris

|{{party shading/Republican}} |Republican

|{{party shading/Republican}} |76,367

|{{party shading/Republican}} |44.6

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |James Moran

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |Democratic

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |88,745

|{{party shading/Democratic}} |51.7

|{{party shading/Independent}} |Robert T. Murphy

|{{party shading/Independent}} |Independent

|{{party shading/Independent}} |5,958

|{{party shading/Independent}} |3.5

|colspan=5|

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20040921175319/http://www.lobbysearch.com/cgi-bin/display_player.pl?id=20020320114454 Lobbyist Profile]
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/27/AR2010032701576.html Obituary] from the Washington Post
[https://scrc.gmu.edu/finding_aids/parris.html Stanford Parris Papers 1964-1987]
{{C-SPAN|6716}}

{{s-ttl|title=Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 20th district
County of Fairfax; Cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, and Falls Church|years=1969–1972}}

{{s-ttl|title=Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 19th district
Counties of Fairfax (part) and Prince William (part); City of Fairfax|years=1972}}

{{US House succession box

| state=Virginia

| district=8

| before=William L. Scott

| years=1973–1975

| after=Herbert Harris

}}

{{US House succession box

| state=Virginia

| district=8

| before=Herbert Harris

| years=1981–1991