Janet Howell

American politician from Virginia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 in 1991, where she represented the 32nd district in Fairfax County and portions of Arlington County until 2024.^[6]^[1]^[7]

Preceded byClive DuVal II

Succeeded byJennifer Boysko (Redistricting)

BornMay 7, 1944 (age 81)

Washington, D.C.

PartyDemocratic

Quick facts Member of the Virginia Senate from the 32nd district, Preceded by ...

Janet Howell

Member of the Virginia Senate from the 32nd district
In office January 8, 1992 – January 10, 2024
Preceded by	Clive DuVal II
Succeeded by	Jennifer Boysko (Redistricting)

Personal details
Born	(1944-05-07) May 7, 1944 (age 81) Washington, D.C.
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Alfred Hunt Howell (1966-present)
Alma mater	Oberlin College (B.A., 1966) University of Pennsylvania, (M.A., 1968)
Committees	Finance and Appropriations (Chair) Education and Health Local Government Privileges and Elections Rules
^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

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.^[8]

Howell taught in the Philadelphia school district, 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 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.^[2]

Howell reported financial assets in 2010 worth more than $US1.48 million and possibly more than $6 million.^[9]

Electoral history

Summary

More information Year, Democrat ...

Virginia Senate, District 32: Results 1995 to 2019^[10]
Year	Democrat	Votes	Pct	Republican	Votes	Pct	Third Party	Votes	Pct
1995	Janet Howell	26,470	57%	Robert M. McDowell	19,738	43%
1999	Janet Howell	25,966	58%	Whitney Adams	18,615	42%
2003	Janet Howell	21,252	57%	David M. Hunt	16,214	43%
2007	Janet Howell	28,089	97%	no candidate			Write-ins	818	3%
2011	Janet Howell	26,026	60%	Patrick Forrest^[11]^[12]	17,122	40%
2015	Janet Howell	31,156	94%	no candidate			Write-ins	1,974	6%
2019	Janet Howell	48,546	73%	Arthur Purves	17,303	26%	Write-ins	127	0.19%

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 Senate of Virginia'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 approves the plan, as required by the 1965 Voting Rights Act, she will acquire some reliably Democrat voting precincts and shed others that lean Republican.^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16]

References

[1]
"Senate of Virginia - Membership". Senate of Virginia. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved June 3, 2011. Born in Washington, D.C., May 7, 1944; educated at Oberlin College (B.A.); The University of Pennsylvania (M.A.); Member of Senate: 1992-.
[2]
"Janet D. Howell". The Complete Marquis Who's Who (Fee, via Fairfax County Public Library). Marquis Who's Who. 2008. Gale Document Number: GALE|K2014539537. Retrieved June 3, 2011. Gale Biography In Context.
[3]
Howell, Janet. "My Family". Retrieved June 5, 2011. Next month Hunt and I are celebrating our 45th wedding anniversary. We met our freshman year in college and married five days after graduation. Hunt has always supported me in every way and has been a huge booster every election cycle. He is an economist and is semi-retired from the Inter-American Development Bank. Hunt has really made a difference in several countries, especially Peru and Jamaica. He is an avid skier and outdoors man.
[4]
"VPAP | Candidates | Janet Howell | Personal Finances | Salary/Wages". Virginia Public Access Project. Archived from the original on September 30, 2012. Retrieved June 5, 2011. Janet Howell reported that a family member earned salary and wages of more than $10,000 from the following companies: InterAmerican Development Bank (Alfred Hunt Howell)
[5]
"Hunt Howell". LinedIn. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
[6]
"Who's My Legislator?". virginiageneralassembly.gov. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
[7]
Janet D Howell (in Carroll's State Directory) Reproduced in Biography Resource Center (Fee). Farmington Hills, Michigan: Gale. 2008 [2007]. K2416012781. Retrieved April 18, 2008.
[8]
Lambert, Bruce (October 24, 1992). "E. F. Denison, Economist, 76; Devised G.N.P." The New York Times. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
[9]
"VPAP | Candidates | Janet Howell | Personal Finances | Securities, Mutual Funds, Investments". Virginia Public Access Project. Archived from the original on September 30, 2012. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
[10]
"Election Results". Virginia State Board of Elections.
[11]
McCaffrey, Scott; Trompeter, Brian (June 2, 2011). "GOP Challenger Makes Push to Unseat Howell in the 32nd". Sun Gazette. Springfield, Virginia: American Community Newspapers. pp. 13–14. In redrawing the state senate map this year, Democrats moved Republican leaning areas of McLean and Great Falls from Howell's district to the 31st District, being vacated by retiring Democrat Mary Margaret Whipple.
[12]
"In the 32nd Senate Race (editorial)". Sun Gazette. Springfield, Virginia: American Community Newspapers. June 2, 2011. p. 6. Democratic incumbent Janet Howell and Republican challenger Patrick Forrest are from the not-so-"new town" that is part of the reconfigured 32nd District - a district hand-crafted, so it seems, to allow Howell to ditch the most Republican-leaning areas of her current district, and pick up safely Democrataic ones...
...Howell had about $200,000 in the campaign coffers when the last reporting period ended in March, and no doubt has picked up plenty more.
[13]
Helderman, Rosalind S. (May 24, 2011). "DOJ requests interviews with redistricting legislators". Virginia Politics. The Washington Post.
[14]
"Sen. Thomas Norment now says he opposes bipartisan redistricting". Politifact.com Virginia. March 29, 2011. Retrieved June 4, 2011. The Senate plan, drawn primarily by Sen. Janet D. Howell, D-Fairfax, would squeeze GOP Sens. Frank W. Wagner and Jeff McWaters, both of Virginia Beach, into the same district. It also would lump Sen. Stephen D. Newman, R-Lynchburg, into the same district as Sen. Ralph K. Smith, R-Botetourt County...
...But to our eyes, Howell's plan uses many of the same criteria Norment endorsed 10 years ago. Just as two Democrats stood to lose their seats in 2001, two Republicans are out of luck in 2011.
[15]
Bowman, Bobbi (December 28, 2010). "Our Senator at Center of Redistricting Battle; Sen. Janet Howell Heads Key Committee". McLean Patch. Archived from the original on August 20, 2011. Retrieved June 4, 2011. State Sen. Janet Howell whose 32nd district includes McLean, will be a key player this year's redistricting battle because she heads the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee. "We are charged with approving a redistricting plan for the state Senate and, along with the House, the US Congressional districts," she said. "We now know the population total for Virginia," said Howell. " We also know that Northern Virginia will pick up a Senate seat. However, since the population growth in uneven the impact on various districts is going to vary. One thing for certain, every Senate seat will have to be changed significantly," she said. "We do not know where the (new) district will be because Census will not send the needed data until February. Lots of people are creating scenarios but I think it is premature," said Howell, who started holding hearings on redistricting this fall.
[16]
McCaffrey, Scott; Orrin Konheim (June 3, 2011). "In Re-Election Kickoff, Howell Says She Delivers for Region". Sun Gazette. Springfield, Va. Retrieved June 6, 2011. State Sen. Janet Howell formally kicked off her bid for re-election June 1 by telling Democrats she has delivered for them, and the region, in the General Assembly.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)

Sources

"Senator Janet D. Howell; Democrat - District 32". Senate of Virginia. Archived from the original on January 15, 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2009.