John Randall "Randy" Minchew (born July 31, 1957, in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

) 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 ...

and

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

. A Republican, he was first elected to 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 ...

in 2011, and re-elected for two subsequent terms. He represented the 10th district, made up of parts of

Clarke Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin . Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name. Irish surname origin Clarke is a common surname ...

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Given name Nobility = Anhalt-Harzgerode = * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) = Austria = * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria fro ...

and

Loudoun Loudoun () is a parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland and lies between five and ten miles east of Kilmarnock. The parish roughly encompasses the northern half of the Upper-Irvine Valley and borders Galston parish, Galston Parish (which encompasses ...

counties in the northern part of the state.

Early life, education, business career

Minchew attended Langley High School in

Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. With a population of 1,150,309 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most p ...

; as a senior, he was a campaign volunteer for future Congressman Frank Wolf. He received an A.B. degree from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

in 1980, studying public policy and

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

. After graduation, he worked in the

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

's office in

Durham County, North Carolina Durham County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 324,833, making it the sixth-most populous county in North Carolina. Its county seat is Durham, which is the only incorporate ...

. He received a certificate from

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, in 1982, and a J.D. from

Washington and Lee University School of Law The Washington and Lee University School of Law (W&L Law) is the law school of Washington and Lee University, a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia. It is accredited by the American Bar Association. Facilities are on the histo ...

in 1984, after which he clerked for

Supreme Court of Virginia The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrativ ...

Justice Christian Compton. He then moved to

Leesburg, Virginia Leesburg is a town in and the county seat of Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. It is part of both the Northern Virginia region of the state and the Washington metropolitan area, including Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. European se ...

to practice law. Minchew married Teresa "Terri" Hatterick c. 1992. They have a son, Jack. In 2010, Minchew received a diploma in Theological Studies from the

Virginia Theological Seminary Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), formally the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, is an Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. It is the largest and second-oldest such accredited se ...

Political career

Minchew became involved with the Loudoun County Republican Committee after his move to Leesburg, and was twice elected county Republican chair. In late 2005, Senator Bill Mims resigned his 33rd district

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 ...

seat to become Chief Deputy Attorney General. Minchew ran for the Republican nomination, finishing second in a four-way race, behind Loudoun County Supervisor Mick Staton. Staton lost the ensuing special election to

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 ...

Mark Herring Mark Rankin Herring (born September 25, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 47th Attorney General of Virginia from 2014 to 2022. A Democrat, he previously served in the Senate of Virginia since a 2006 special election, ...

. The 10th House district was moved from the Martinsville area, on Virginia's southern border, to the northern tip of the state in the 2011

redistricting Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

. Minchew won a three-way Republican

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

in the new district, defeating his closest competitor, attorney John Whitbeck, by 87 votes. He defeated Democratic candidate David S. "Dave" Butler in the general election, 8140–5789. In 2013, Minchew faced no challenger for the Republican nomination. His general election campaign included a TV ad touting his accomplishments Minchew was endorsed by the

National Federation of Independent Business The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is an association of small businesses in the United States. It is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, with offices in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals. The stated goal of NFIB ...

, the Virginia Farm Bureau, the Virginia Association of Realtors, the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce, and the Virginia Education Association, as well as the Loudoun, Frederick, and Clarke County Education associations, the

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

, and the

Loudoun Times-Mirror ''Loudoun Times-Mirror'' is a weekly newspaper and news website based in Leesburg, Virginia, owned and operated by Ogden Newspapers. Founded as the ''Times-Mirror'' in 1924, the newspaper and its direct predecessors have covered local news, sport ...

. Minchew won re-election in the general election, decisively defeating Democratic challenger Monte A. Johnson, 12,950 - 9,723 (57% - 43%). In 2015, Minchew again faced no challenger for the Republican nomination. In the general election he faced Democrat Peter Rush, a Leesburg resident and formerly a member of the Loudoun County Soil and Water Board. Minchew won re-election 10,415-6,355 (62%-38%). This was his largest margin of victory since taking office. In 2016, Minchew introduced HB 1181, which would have forced Virginia's representatives to the

Electoral College An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

to vote according to how individual congressional districts voted rather than how the state voted overall. The bill was criticized for being highly partisan, as the system of voting would give an advantage to Republican presidential candidates. Virginia's current winner-takes-all system is shared by 47 other states and the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. In 2017, Minchew was defeated in his bid for a fourth term in the

, losing to Democratic candidate

Wendy Gooditis Gwendolyn Wallace Gooditis is an American real estate agent, educator, and politician, known as Wendy Gooditis. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Gooditis was elected in November 2017 to represent Virginia's 10th House of Delegates di ...

15,151-14,014.

Political positions

Randy Minchew opposes cannabis legalization.Sydney Kashiwagi
Virginia legalizing marijuana anytime soon? Probably not, lawmakers say
''Loudon Times-Mirror''. April 19, 2017

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Minchew, Randy 1957 births Living people Republican Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Duke University alumni Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Washington and Lee University School of Law alumni Virginia Theological Seminary alumni People from Leesburg, Virginia Politicians from Arlington County, Virginia 21st-century members of the Virginia General Assembly