Adelard Lionel "Abe" Brault (April 6, 1909 – February 13, 2007) was an American lawyer, naval veteran and Democratic politician who served multiple terms in the Virginia Senate.

Early and family life

Born in

Winsted, Connecticut Winsted is a census-designated place and an incorporated city in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is part of the town of Winchester. The population of Winsted was 7,712 at the 2010 census, out of 11,242 in the entire town of Win ...

, he was raised in Washington, D.C., graduating from Gonzaga High School in 1927, and then Columbus School of Law, affiliated with

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

in 1933, during the Great Depression. Brault served in the U.S. Navy in the North Atlantic during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Career

After his military service, Brault settled in Fairfax, Virginia, and represented insurance companies in his legal practice. He became active in the Democratic Party as well as the local bar association and was president of the Fairfax Bar Association when appointed to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 1962. In 1965 Brault won election to the Virginia Senate, so that he and Omer Hirst both represented Fairfax County in the (multi-member) 24th senatorial district, and both were re-elected in 1967 and John N. Beall Jr. also added to the Fairfax county delegation following court decisions which required Virginia districts to represent roughly equal number of voters (contrary to the Byrd Organization redistrictings which led to under-representation in the growing northern Virginia suburbs of northern Virginia). Brault continued to win re-election, although the creation of single member districts for the 1971 election changed the number of his district to the 34th and he faced Republican opponents. Fellow Democratic state senators elected Brault as their majority leader in 1976, but he only held that position for four years, succeeded by fellow (but more conservative) Democrat

Hunter Andrews Hunter Booker Andrews (May 28, 1921 – January 13, 2005) was a long-serving Democratic member of the Senate of Virginia from Hampton, Virginia. He served as Senate Majority leader of the Senate from 1980 until his defeat in 1995. Early life an ...

of the state's Hampton Roads region in 1980. Although sometimes at odds with fellow Fairfax Democrat Clive DuVal, Brault cooperated extensively with fellow state senator Omer Hirst to construct the

Dulles Toll Road State Route 267 (SR 267) is a primary state highway in the US state of Virginia. It consists of two end-to-end toll roads – the Dulles Toll Road and Dulles Greenway – as well as the non-tolled Dulles Access Road, which lies in the ...

, which was completed in 1984 and officially renamed to honor both men in 1991 (although the lengthy name never became popular among commuters). However, his state senate seat was captured by Republican

John W. Russell John W. Russell (May 19, 1936 - February 25, 2004) was an American trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses, a freelance Sports journalism, sportswriter and the author of the 2002 novel ''In the Shadow of Dark Horses''. Among his clients, he trained ...

in 1985, as he narrowly defeated Democrat

Emilie F. Miller Emilie Feiza Miller (born August 11, 1936) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Virginia Senate. A legislative aide to Senator Abe Brault, she ran for his seat with his endorsement when he retired in 1983 but lost ...

, who then narrowly defeated him in 1987. Though Brault expected to move to Florida after announcing his pending retirement in 1983, he remained near his family in Virginia, and Governor

Chuck Robb Charles Spittal Robb (born June 26, 1939) is an American politician from Virginia and former officer in the United States Marine Corps. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the List of governors of Vir ...

appointed him to the State Board of Education. Brault died in 2007 and is buried at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brault, Abe 1909 births 2007 deaths People from Port Royal, Virginia People from Winsted, Connecticut Military personnel from Connecticut Columbia Law School alumni Democratic Party Virginia state senators 20th-century American legislators