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

American politician The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that share powers. These are: the U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a bi ...

. He was a member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts 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-number ...

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, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...

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 of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

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 (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

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 the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, although he caucused with the Republicans from 1998. Putney announced in March 2013 that he would not run for reelection in 2013.

Acting Speaker

In June 2002 Republican House

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

S. Vance Wilkins, Jr. 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 which alters how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of: * Voting systems, such as proportional representation, a two-round system (runoff voting), instant-r ...

bills, including the

National Popular Vote Interstate Compact MD, NJ, IL, HI, WA, MA, DC, VT, CA, RI, NY, CT, CO, DE, NM, OR MI, PA, TX The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is a proposed interstate compact among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award a ...

and bills to introduce

Instant Runoff Voting Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a type of ranked preferential voting method. It uses a majority voting rule in single-winner elections where there are more than two candidates. It is commonly referred to as ranked-choice voting (RCV) in the U ...

on a test basis. He then chaired the powerful Appropriations Committee.Virginia House of Delegates: Appropriations Committee
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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 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians