Lacey Edward Putney (June 27, 1928 – August 26, 2017) was 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 ...

. He was a member of 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 ...

from January 1962 until January 2014, making him the longest-serving member in the history of the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

and one of the longest-serving state legislators in American history. He represented a district centered around his hometown of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

for his entire career, and at various times represented parts of neighboring

and Botetourt counties. Putney, a lawyer from Bedford, was first elected as a

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 ...

in 1961. He left that party later in the decade and began running as an

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 ...

, although he caucused with the

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

from 1998. Putney announced in March 2013 that he would not run for reelection in 2013.

Acting Speaker

In June 2002, the Republican

Speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates This is a complete list of the Speaker (politics), speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates. Elected by the members of the House, the Speaker is the presiding officer of that body. In addition to duties as chair, the adopted rules of the Hous ...

Vance Wilkins Shirley Vance Wilkins Jr. (born August 12, 1936) is a retired American politician of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1978 to 2002. In 2000 he became the first-ever ...

, resigned following revelations that he had paid a staffer to keep quiet about "unwanted sexual advances". Putney, then Chair of the Privileges and Elections committee, served as Acting Speaker until the following session in January 2003, when Republican William J. Howell was elected as Speaker.

Electoral history

2007 voting bills

As Chair of the Privileges and Elections Committee, Putney blocked numerous

electoral reform Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems that alters how public desires, usually expressed by cast votes, produce election results. Description Reforms can include changes to: * Voting systems, such as adoption of proportional represen ...

bills, including the

National Popular Vote Interstate Compact MD, NJ, IL, HI, WA, MA, DC, VT, CA, RI, NY, CT, CO, DE, NM, OR, MN, ME AZ, KS, PA, SC, VA, TX, MT The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all t ...

and bills to introduce

Instant Runoff Voting Instant-runoff voting (IRV; ranked-choice voting (RCV), preferential voting, alternative vote) is a single-winner ranked voting election system where one or more eliminations are used to simulate runoff elections. When no candidate has a ...

on a test basis. He then chaired the powerful Appropriations Committee.Virginia House of Delegates: Appropriations Committee
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Notes

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Putney, Lacey Edward 1928 births 2017 deaths Members of the Virginia House of Delegates Virginia Democrats Virginia independents Virginia Republicans People from Bedford County, Virginia Washington and Lee University School of Law alumni Virginia lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century members of the Virginia General Assembly 20th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly