Viola Osborne Baskerville (born October 29, 1951) is a Virginia lawyer and politician who 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 ...

from 1998 to 2005 and as Secretary of Administration in the Cabinet of Virginia Governor

Tim Kaine Timothy Michael Kaine ( ; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States ...

from 2006 to 2010.

Biography

Viola Baskerville was born in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. Her educational background includes a B.A. degree from the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest instit ...

earned in 1973, and a J.D. degree from the

University of Iowa College of Law The University of Iowa College of Law is the law school of the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. It was founded in 1865. History The law school was founded in 1865 by George Grover Wright and Chester C. Cole as an independent la ...

earned in 1979. Furthermore, she also studied abroad on a

Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Prior to her appointment as Secretary of Administration, Baskerville served on the Richmond, Virginia City Council from 1994 to 1997, including a stint as the city's Vice Mayor under then-

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

. Following her tenure as Vice Mayor, she was elected to the

, serving from 1998 to 2005. In the

2005 election The following elections occurred in the year 2005. * 2005 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 2005 Burkinabé presidential election * 2005 Burundian Senate election * 2005 Burundian communal elections * 2005 Burundian constitutio ...

, she became the first African-American woman to seek the Democratic Party nomination for

Lieutenant Governor of Virginia The lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The lieutenant governor is elected every four years along with the governor and attorney general. The office is currently held ...

, coming in second place in the four-way primary behind State Senator

Leslie Byrne Leslie Larkin Byrne (née Beck; born October 27, 1946) is an American politician and businesswoman who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Virginia's Virginia's 11th congressional district, 11th congres ...

, but ahead of State Delegate

Chap Petersen John Chapman "Chap" Petersen (born March 27, 1968) is an American politician. A Democrat, he served in the Virginia House of Delegates 2002–06, was elected to the Virginia State Senate in November 2007, and was reelected in 2011. He repres ...

, and State Senator

Phillip Puckett Phillip P. Puckett (born August 10, 1947 in Russell County, Virginia) is an American politician. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he was elected to the Senate of Virginia in 1998 and resigned on June 9, 2014. He represented the Virg ...

. Following the 2005 general election, she served as Co-chair of Governor Tim Kaine's Transition Team, and was succeeded in the State House by Democrat

Jennifer McClellan Jennifer Leigh McClellan (born December 28, 1972) is an American politician and attorney serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Virginia's 4th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic ...

. As Secretary of Administration in the

Virginia Governor's Cabinet The Virginia Governor's Cabinet is a body of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the Government of Virginia. The Cabinet is responsible for advising the Governor of Virginia. Cabinet officers are nominated by the governor ...

, Baskerville was responsible for overseeing several state government agencies including the

Virginia State Board of Elections The Virginia State Board of Elections (SBE) was created in 1946 as a nonpolitical agency responsible for ensuring uniformity, fairness, accuracy and purity in all elections in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The SBE promote ...

, the Department of General Services, the Department of Human Resources Management, and the Department of Minority Business Enterprise. She was the only African-American woman to serve in Governor Kaine's Cabinet. Baskerville was succeeded as Virginia Secretary of Administration by

Lisa Hicks-Thomas Lisa Michelle Hicks-Thomas (born March 2, 1969) is a former Secretary of Administration of the Commonwealth of Virginia, serving under Governor Bob McDonnell. She was formerly a state deputy attorney general from 2007 to 2010 and assistant comm ...

in January, 2010, and was subsequently appointed as CEO of the Girl Scouts of Virginia.

References

External links

;Archival Records
Archived Web Site of the Virginia Secretary of Administration, 2006-2010
part o

at ttp://www.virginiamemory.com/collections/archival_web_collections Virginia Memorybr>A Guide to the Viola O. Baskerville Papers, 1961-2005 (bulk 1994-2005)
a
The Library of Virginia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baskerville, Viola 1951 births Living people State cabinet secretaries of Virginia Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Richmond, Virginia, city council members Girl Scouts of the USA people College of William & Mary alumni University of Iowa College of Law alumni Women state legislators in Virginia Women city councillors in Virginia African-American state cabinet secretaries African-American state legislators in Virginia African-American city council members in Virginia 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century African-American politicians 21st-century members of the Virginia General Assembly 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American women politicians 20th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly