Janet Denison Howell (born May 7, 1944 in Washington, D.C.) is an American politician. A Democrat, she was elected 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 Virg ...

in 1991, where she represents the 32nd district in Fairfax County.

Biography

She was born to Edward Fulton and Elsie (Lightbown) Denison. Her father was a prominent economist at the U. S. Department of Commerce and the Brookings Institution, and fellow Oberlin alumnus. Howell taught in the

Philadelphia school district The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) is the school district that includes all school district-operated public schools in Philadelphia. Established in 1818, it is the 8th largest school district in the nation, by enrollment, serving over 200 ...

, 1968–1969, and was a legislative assistant in the Virginia State Senate from 1989 to 1991. The ''Reston Times'' named her Restonian of the year in 1984. In 1991 the Virginia Association of Social Workers honored her as Virginian of the year. She was named Senator of the Year ( Fraternal Order of Police, 1998), Citizen of Yr. (ARC, 1998). She was Chairman of the

Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...

Social Services Board, 1979–82, State Bd. Social Svcs., Va., 1986–91, Reston (Va.) Transp. Com., 1986–91; pres. Reston Community Assn., 1982–85, Citizen of Yr., 1990. Howell reported financial assets in 2010 worth more than

$US The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

1.48 million and possibly more than $6 million.

Electoral history

Summary

2011 election campaign

Janet Howell ran for reelection in Virginia's November 8, 2011 election. The Virginia General Assembly drew new legislative districts to reflect the U.S. Census of 2010. As chairman of the

's committee on privileges and elections, Mrs. Howell led the process to draw new Senate district boundaries, and she did so to preserve her party's majority and to improve her own reelection prospects within the law. If the U.S. Department of Justice or

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District of ...

approves the plan, as required by the voting rights act, she will acquire some reliably Democrat voting precincts and shed others that lean Republican.

References

Sources

External links

Senator Janet Howell
official website
Project Vote Smart - Senator Janet Denison Howell (VA)
profile *''Follow the Money'' - Janet D Howell
2005200320011999
campaign contributions
Washington Post - Senate District 32 Race
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Janet Denison 1944 births Living people Oberlin College alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni People from Washington, D.C. Democratic Party Virginia state senators Women state legislators in Virginia People from Reston, Virginia American Unitarian Universalists 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians