Vance Wilkins
{{Short description|American politician (born 1936)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Vance Wilkins
| image = Delegate Wilkins 1988.jpg
| caption = Official portrait, 1978
| office = 53rd List of Speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates
| term_start = January 12, 2000
| term_end = June 15, 2002
| predecessor = Tom Moss
| successor = Lacey Putney (acting)
{{Collapsed infobox section begin|Other leadership positions|titlestyle = border:1px dashed lightgrey}}
| order1 = House Minority Leader
| term_start1 = November 19, 1991
| term_end1 = January 12, 2000
| preceded1 = Andy Guest
| succeeded1 = Richard Cranwell
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}
| 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
| constituency2 = {{ubl|11th district (1978–1983)|24th district (1983–2002)}}
| birthname = Shirley Vance Wilkins Jr.
| birth_date = {{birth date and age | 1936 | 8 | 12}}
| birth_place = Amherst, Virginia, U.S.
| party = Republican
| spouse = Leona Elena Ehlert
| education = 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.{{cite web |title=S. Vance Wilkins Jr., Member From: 1978 - 2002 |url=https://history.house.virginia.gov/members/9697 |website=House History |publisher=Virginia House of Delegates Clerk's Office |access-date=April 13, 2021 |date=2021}}
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.{{cite news |last1=Masters |first1=Brooke A. |last2=Shear |first2=Michael D. |title=U.S. Joins Probe of Phone Snooping; Republicans Investigated for Allegedly Listening to Democrats' Conference Calls |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2002/05/09/us-joins-probe-of-phone-snooping/9b467802-312b-4db7-93da-1c262510591d/ |work=The Washington Post |page=B4 |date=2002-05-09}}
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.{{cite news |last=Melton |first=R.H. |title=Va. Speaker Settles Sex Complaint; Wilkins Paid Woman at Least $100,000, Denies Accusations |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/06/07/va-speaker-settles-sex-complaint/e66ad36c-2bc9-4ff3-8f28-c2d0467b81a7/ |work=The Washington Post |page=A1 |date=2002-06-07}} Under pressure from Kilgore and his own Republican caucus, Wilkins resigned as Speaker a week later, and then resigned from the House shortly afterward.{{cite news |last1=Melton |first1=R.H. |title=Wilkins Resigns As Va. Speaker |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/06/14/wilkins-resigns-as-va-speaker/b3bd41d0-4eff-4661-ae8f-be11cb955ac0/ |access-date=November 25, 2020 |work=The Washington Post |date=June 14, 2002}}
Notes
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{cite web |title=S. Vance Wilkins Jr., Member From: 1978 - 2002 |url=https://history.house.virginia.gov/members/9697 |website=A History of the Virginia House of Delegates |publisher=Virginia General Assembly |access-date=November 25, 2020}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-va-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=Donald G. Pendleton}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the 11th district|years=January 11, 1978–January 12, 1983}}
{{s-aft|after=A. L. Philpott}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=Mitchell Van Yahres
James B. Murray}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the 24th district|years=January 12, 1983–June 15, 2002}}
{{s-aft|after=Ben Cline}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=Andy Guest}}
{{s-ttl|title=Minority Leader of the Virginia House of Delegates|years=November 19, 1991–January 12, 2000}}
{{s-aft|after=Richard Cranwell}}
|-
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=Tom Moss}}
{{s-ttl|title=Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates|years=January 12, 2000–June 15, 2002}}
{{s-aft|after=Lacey Putney}}
{{s-end}}
{{Speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkins, Vance}}
Category:Speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates
Category:Republican Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates
Category:People from Amherst, Virginia
Category:21st-century members of the Virginia General Assembly
Category:20th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly