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Adelard Lionel "Abe" Brault (April 6, 1909 – February 13, 2007) was an American lawyer, naval veteran and Democratic politician who served multiple terms in the
Virginia Senate The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...
.


Early and family life

Born in
Winsted, Connecticut Winsted is a census-designated place and an incorporated city in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is part of the town of Winchester, Connecticut, Winchester. The population of Winsted was 7,192 at the 2020 United States census, 2 ...
, he was raised in Washington, D.C., graduating from
Gonzaga High School Gonzaga Regional High School is an educational establishment located in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The school began as a Jesuit sponsored all-boys school from grades 9 to 11. It is now a non-denominational coeducational inst ...
in 1927, and then
Columbus School of Law The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law is the law school of the Catholic University of America, a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. More than 370 Juris Doctor students attend the ...
, affiliated with
American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...
in 1933, during the Great Depression. Brault served in the U.S. Navy in the North Atlantic during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


Career

After his military service, Brault settled in Fairfax, Virginia, and represented insurance companies in his legal practice. He became active in the Democratic Party as well as the local bar association and was president of the Fairfax Bar Association when appointed to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 1962. In 1965 Brault won election to the Virginia Senate, so that he and Omer Hirst both represented Fairfax County in the (multi-member) 24th senatorial district, and both were re-elected in 1967 and John N. Beall Jr. also added to the Fairfax county delegation following court decisions which required Virginia districts to represent roughly equal number of voters (contrary to the Byrd Organization redistrictings which led to under-representation in the growing northern Virginia suburbs of northern Virginia). Brault continued to win re-election, although the creation of single member districts for the 1971 election changed the number of his district to the 34th and he faced Republican opponents. Fellow Democratic state senators elected Brault as their majority leader in 1976, but he only held that position for four years, succeeded by fellow (but more conservative) Democrat Hunter Andrews of the state's Hampton Roads region in 1980. Although sometimes at odds with fellow Fairfax Democrat Clive DuVal, Brault cooperated extensively with fellow state senator Omer Hirst to construct the
Dulles Toll Road State Route 267 (SR 267) is an expressway in the US state of Virginia. It consists of two end-to-end toll roads – the Dulles Toll Road and Dulles Greenway – as well as the non-tolled Dulles Access Road, which lies in the median o ...
, which was completed in 1984 and officially renamed to honor both men in 1991 (although the lengthy name never became popular among commuters). However, his state senate seat was captured by Republican
John W. Russell John W. Russell may refer to: * John Russell (horse trainer) * John W. Russell (New York politician) * John Russell (Virginia politician) * John W. Russell Jr., American politician from Oklahoma * John Wentworth Russell John Wentworth Russel ...
in 1985, as he narrowly defeated Democrat Emilie F. Miller, who then narrowly defeated him in 1987. Though Brault expected to move to Florida after announcing his pending retirement in 1983, he remained near his family in Virginia, and Governor
Chuck Robb Charles Spittal Robb (born June 26, 1939) is an American former U.S. Marine Corps officer and politician who served as the 64th governor of Virginia from 1982 to 1986 and a United States senator representing Virginia from 1989 until 2001. A me ...
appointed him to the State Board of Education. Brault died in 2007 and is buried at
Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...
.ANC Explorer
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References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brault, Abe 1909 births 2007 deaths People from Port Royal, Virginia People from Winsted, Connecticut Military personnel from Connecticut Columbia Law School alumni Democratic Party Virginia state senators 20th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly