Kelly Convirs-Fowler is an American politician from Virginia. Since 2018, she has served in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

, representing District 96. She was first elected in November 2017. In the 2023 election, she was elected in District 96. Fowler serves on the Privileges and Elections Committee and the Science and Technology Committee.

Early life and career

Kelly Convirs-Fowler was born and raised in

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the List of cities in Virginia, most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeaster ...

. She is of Filipino and

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

descent. She graduated from Tallwood High School and

Virginia Wesleyan College Virginia Wesleyan University (VWU) is a private university in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. The university is nonsectarian but historically affiliated with The United Methodist Church. It enrolls 4,632 learners in all locations: 1,6 ...

, where she majored in

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

and

Criminal Justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

. Both schools are in Virginia Beach. After earning her

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Education at the

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...

, she began teaching at Lynnhaven Elementary. She left her job to begin a home renovation business with her husband. They specialize in serving military families.

Political career

Fowler ran to be a delegate in Virginia's 2017 election against incumbent Ron Villanueva (also a

Filipino American Filipino Americans () are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos in North America were first documented in the 16th century and other small settlements beginning in the 18th century. Mass migration did not begin until after the end of the Sp ...

). She won the election with 52.3% of the vote, and took office in January 2018. She and

Kathy Tran Kathy Tran (born 1978) is an American politician who currently serves in the Virginia House of Delegates. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, she represents the Virginia's 18th House of Delegates district, 18th House of Delegates distr ...

were the first Asian-American women to be elected to

Virginia's House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

. Fowler ran for reelection in the 2019 election. She defeated Republican Shannon D.S. Kane with 54.5% of the vote. Fowler ran for a third term in the 2021 election. In one of the closest races in Virginia that year, she defeated Tanya Gould by 1% of the vote. During the 2020 special session, Fowler abstained on HB5013 which was intended to end qualified immunity for law enforcement following the 2020 summer Black Lives Matter protests. Her abstention was due to her own husband, David Fowler, being a deputy sheriff, which effectively killed the bill. In the

2023 Virginia House of Delegates election The 2023 Virginia House of Delegates election took place on November 7, 2023, concurrently with elections for the 2023 Virginia Senate election, Virginia Senate, to elect members of the 163rd Virginia General Assembly. All 100 delegates were el ...

, she was elected in District 96.

Personal life

She is married to William Fowler, and they have three kids. William Fowler was a deputy sheriff sergeant and was fired after the Virginia Beach sheriff "lost confidence in isability to serve the community". Although the position serves at the pleasure of the sheriff, Fowler then sued, claiming he was wrongly fired. She came out as bisexual at a Pride event in Virginia Beach on June 26, 2022. Convirs-Fowler has claimed to have the personal laptop of the Virginia Beach mass shooter. She then refused to voluntarily give the laptop to Virginia Beach police.

Electoral history

! Year ! ! Subject ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Opponent ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Opponent ! Party ! Votes ! % ! , - !colspan=17, 21st Virginia House of Delegates District , - ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, , , , Kelly Convirs-Fowler , , Democratic , , 12,540 , , 52.5 , , , Ron Villanueva ( inc) , , Republican , , 11,309 , , 47.3 , , colspan=5, , - ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, , , , Kelly Convirs-Fowler ( inc) , , Democratic , , 12,402 , , 54.5 , , , Shannon Kane , , Republican , , 10,300 , , 45.3 , , colspan=5, , - ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, , , , Kelly Convirs-Fowler ( inc) , , Democratic , , 15,162 , , 50.5% , , , Tanya Gould , , Republican , , 14,818 , , 49.4% , - !colspan=17, 96th Virginia House of Delegates District , - ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, , , , Kelly Convirs-Fowler , , Democratic , , 11,723 , , 55.2% , , , Mike Karslake , , Republican , , 8,749 , , 43.2% , , , Nicholas Olenik , ,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, , 734 , , 3.5%

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Kelly Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American women politicians American politicians of Filipino descent American politicians of Mexican descent Asian American and Pacific Islander state legislators in Virginia Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Old Dominion University alumni People from Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Wesleyan University alumni Women state legislators in Virginia Bisexual women politicians LGBTQ state legislators in Virginia American bisexual women American bisexual politicians 21st-century members of the Virginia General Assembly

Early life and career

Political career

Personal life

Electoral history

See also

References