William M. Stanley Jr. (born July 21, 1967) is an

American politician In the United States, politics functions within a framework of a constitutional federal democratic republic with a presidential system. The three distinct branches share powers: Congress, which forms the legislative branch, a bicameral legis ...

. A Republican, he was elected in 2011 to the

Senate of Virginia 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 Vir ...

for the 20th district. The 20th district includes the cities of Galax and Martinsville,

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

and

Patrick Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint * Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

counties, part of the city of Danville, and parts of five other

Southside Virginia Southside, or Southside Virginia, has traditionally referred to the portion of the state south of the James River, the geographic feature from which the term derives its name. This was the first area to be developed in the colonial period. Dur ...

counties.

Early life, education, business career

Stanley was born in

Milton, Florida Milton is a city and county seat of Santa Rosa County, Florida, Santa Rosa County, Florida, United States. It is located within the Pensacola metropolitan area. The city was first Incorporated in 1844, however certain areas such as East Milton, ...

, the son of a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

. The family purchased a home

Franklin County, Virginia Franklin County is a county located in the Blue Ridge foothills of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 54,477. Its county seat is Rocky Mount. Franklin County is part of the Roanoke metro ...

after his father retired in 1983. Stanley received a B.S. degree from

Hampden-Sydney College Hampden Sydney is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince Edward County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,450 at the 2010 census. Hampden Sydney is the home of Hampden–Sydney College, a private all-male college that is the tenth ...

, and a J.D. from the District of Columbia School of Law. He joined the

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several County (United States), counties and independent city (United States), independent cities in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. ...

law firm of Gilbert Davis, where he was involved in

Paula Jones Paula Corbin Jones (born Paula Rosalee Corbin; September 17, 1966) is an American civil servant. A former Arkansas state employee, Jones sued United States President Bill Clinton for sexual harassment in 1994. In the initial lawsuit, Jones accus ...

' sexual harassment lawsuit against President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

. In 1999 he moved back to Franklin County and began to practice law there. He co-owns a Modified team with former

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

driver, professional wrestler and politician Hermie Sadler that competes in the SMART Modified Tour and

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) (previously the NASCAR Winston Modified Tour and NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series from 1985 until 2005) is a modified stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR in the Modified Division. The Mod ...

. In 2024, The team won their first championship in the SMART Modified Tour with Luke Baldwin.

Political career

Stanley was elected Franklin County Republican Committee chair in 2008, and

Virginia's 5th Congressional District Virginia's fifth congressional district is a United States congressional district in the commonwealth of Virginia. The 5th district includes the majority of rural Southside Virginia, though it stretches as far as the Richmond suburbs. Within ...

Republican Committee chair in 2010. In 2009, Stanley's home in Franklin County was shifted into the neighboring 20th District of incumbent

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Roscoe Reynolds. Stanley ran in the 20th and defeated Reynolds, 23975 (46.8%)-23331 (45.54%). W. Jeff Evans, the 2007 Republican candidate, ran as an independent, finishing third with 7.58% of the vote. Stanley wrote the 2023 Virginia law requiring age verification for access to online pornography. He has said that this has led to threats against his family.

Notes

External links

* * * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Bill 1967 births Anti-pornography activists Hampden–Sydney College alumni Living people People from Franklin County, Virginia People from Milton, Florida Republican Party Virginia state senators University of the District of Columbia alumni Virginia lawyers 21st-century members of the Virginia General Assembly