James Kenneth Robinson (May 14, 1916 – April 8, 1990) was a State Senator and

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Early life

Born in

Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the northwesternmost Administrative divisions of Virginia#Independent cities, independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of Frederick County, Virginia, Frederi ...

, Robinson attended the city's public schools, including Handley High School. He graduated with a B.S. in horticulture from

Virginia Polytechnic Institute The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

Blacksburg, Virginia Blacksburg is an incorporated town in Montgomery County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 44,826 at the 2020 census. Blacksburg and the surrounding county is dominated economically and demographically by the presence of Virginia T ...

in 1937. He served as infantryman in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

from 1941 to 1945. He was discharged with the rank of major, and was active in the American Legion despite his Quaker faith.

Career

Like the powerful Democratic Byrd family of Winchester, Robinson owned a fruit orchard and operated a fruit packing business, and had real estate and other business interests in the Winchester area. He was active in the Winchester

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, Virginia Farm Bureau Federation,

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, Winchester-Frederick County

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and the Winchester Elks Lodge.

Political career

Robinson made his first bid for elected office in 1962, when he ran as a Republican in

Virginia's 7th congressional district Virginia's seventh congressional district is a United States congressional district in the U.S. state, Commonwealth of Virginia. The district encompasses a vast swath of Northern Virginia, Northern and Greater Richmond Region, Central Virginia ...

, which included his home in Winchester. This district, like most of Virginia, had long been dominated by the Byrd Machine; indeed, machine patriarch Harry F. Byrd Sr. was a Winchester native. However, Robinson nearly ended the long run of Democratic dominance in this seat, coming within 598 votes of defeating the Democratic nominee, John Marsh. By this time, conservative Byrd Democrats had begun splitting their tickets in national contests out of chagrin over the

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as early as the 1930s, a trend that accelerated with the national party's embrace of civil rights for blacks. After redistricting following the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Davis v. Mann as well as Virginia Governor

Albertis Harrison Albertis Sydney Harrison Jr. (January 11, 1907 – January 23, 1995) was an American politician and jurist. A member of the Democratic Party associated with Virginia's Byrd Organization, he served as the 59th governor of Virginia from 1962 to ...

's appointment of state Senator Harry F. Byrd Jr. to succeed his retiring father in the U.S. Senate, voters in Byrd's long-held state senatorial district encompassing Clarke, Frederick and Shenandoah Counties and the City of Winchester (previously numbered the 24th (with the new addition of

Loudoun County Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. The county seat is Leesburg, Virgi ...

now numbered the 21st) elected Robinson to 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 ...

in 1965. He was re-elected to a four-year term in 1967. Robinson served as chairman of the Republican delegation to the 1968 and 1969 general assembly. After Marsh opted not to run for a fifth term in 1970, Robinson entered the race to succeed him in 1970. His state senate district covered much of the congressional district's western portion. He defeated the former ambassador to

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

, Murat W. Williams, by a decisive margin. He defeated Williams in a rematch in 1972, becoming the first Republican to win a second term in this district since Reconstruction. He served as the ranking minority member on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence by the time he stepped down in January 1985. Robinson became very popular in his district, even though many of its living residents had never been represented by a Republican before. After his first run for Congress, he only dropped below 60 percent of the vote once, in 1974 when a number of Republicans were unseated due to anger over the

Watergate Scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...

. He did not seek an eighth term in 1984 due to ill health. He continued work in the fruit growing and packing business in Winchester until his death from pancreatic cancer on April 8, 1990.

Electoral history

*1970; Robinson was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 61.75% of the vote, defeating Democrat Murat Williams. *1972; Robinson was re-elected with 66.18% of the vote, defeating Democrat Williams. *1974; Robinson was re-elected with 52.64% of the vote, defeating Democrat George H. Gilliam. *1976; Robinson was re-elected with 81.78% of the vote, defeating Independent James R. Hutt. *1978; Robinson was re-elected with 64.29% of the vote, defeating Democrat Lewis Perley Fickett Jr. *1980; Robinson was re-elected unopposed. *1982; Robinson was re-elected with 62.27% of the vote, defeating Democrat Lindsay G. Dorrier.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, J. Kenneth 1916 births 1990 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople United States Army personnel of World War II American orchardists American Quakers Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Virginia Military personnel from Virginia Politicians from Winchester, Virginia Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia United States Army officers Republican Party Virginia state senators Virginia Tech alumni 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly