Charles Richard "Dick" Cranwell (born July 26, 1942) is an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. 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-numbe ...

1972–2001, and was its Democratic floor leader 1991–2001. From 2005 to 2010, he was chairman of the

Democratic Party of Virginia The Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA/VA Dems) is the Virginia affiliate of the Democratic Party based in Richmond, Virginia. Historically, the Democratic Party has dominated Virginia politics. Since the 1851 Virginia gubernatorial election, the ...

Personal life and non-political career

Cranwell attended Richlands High School in

Tazewell County, Virginia Tazewell County () is a county located in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,429. Its county seat is Tazewell. Tazewell County is part of the Bluefield, WV-VA Micropolitan S ...

. As the varsity quarterback, he led the state in touchdown passes his senior year. He would go on to play football in college, transitioning to

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (sports magazine), in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the word used i ...

. He received a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

degree from

Virginia Polytechnic Institute Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

in 1965, and his J.D. from the

University of Richmond School of Law The University of Richmond School of Law (Richmond Law) is a school of the University of Richmond, located in Richmond, Virginia. Richmond Law is ranked 52nd (tie) in the US by ''US News'', among the ''top five value'' law schools by the ''Natio ...

in 1968. He was then admitted to the

Virginia State Bar The Virginia State Bar (VSB) is the administrative agency of the Supreme Court of Virginia created to regulate, improve and advance the legal profession in Virginia. Membership in good standing in the VSB is mandatory for attorneys wishing to pr ...

and took up practice in

Roanoke County, Virginia Roanoke County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 96,929. Its county seat is Salem, but the county administrative offices are located in the unincorporated Cave ...

. He is an active member in good standing of the Virginia State Bar, the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

, the

Association of Trial Lawyers of America The American Association for Justice (AAJ), formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) is a nonprofit advocacy and lobbying organization for plaintiff's lawyers in the United States. Focused on opposing tort reform, the organiza ...

, the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys, the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association and the Roanoke County-Salem Bar Association. Cranwell currently resides in

Vinton, Virginia Vinton is a town in Roanoke County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,059 at the 2020 census. Vinton is part of the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Roanoke Region of Virginia. History By the late 18th century, settlers ...

and is a member of Vinton's Chamber of Commerce and its

Lions Club The International Association of Lions Clubs, more commonly known as Lions Clubs International, is an international non-political service organization established originally in 1916 in Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , ...

. He has been married twice and had six children.

Political career

Cranwell was first elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1972, sharing the multi-member 8th district ( Craig and Roanoke Counties and the city of Salem) with

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Raymond Robrecht. In 1982, after redistricting, he shared the same district, now numbered the 7th, with another Republican,

G. Steven Agee George Steven Agee (born November 12, 1952) is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and a former justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Background Born in Roanoke, Virginia, Agee was e ...

. A second redistricting converted the House entirely to single-member districts in 1983. He won election in the new 14th district, made up of pieces of Craig, Roanoke and

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 ...

Counties. He stayed in the 14th until his retirement from the House in 2001. Cranwell served as chair of the Militia and Police committee 1978–1987, then took over the chairmanship of the Finance committee. In September 1991,

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 ...

A. L. Philpott, a terminal cancer patient, retired. Cranwell lost to Tom Moss of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

for the Democratic Caucus nomination to succeed Philpott. Moss then became Speaker, and Cranwell became

Majority leader In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.

. Republicans gained parity with Democrats in the House after the 1997 elections, part of a Republican sweep driven by gubernatorial candidate

Jim Gilmore James Stuart Gilmore III (born October 6, 1949) is an American politician, diplomat, statesman, and former attorney who was the 68th Governor of Virginia from 1998 to 2002 and Chairman of the Republican National Committee in 2001. A native Vir ...

's campaign promise to eliminate the

personal property tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inherit ...

automobiles A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

. While the Democrats retained nominal majority caucus status and Moss remained Speaker, committee chairs were shared between the two parties, and Republican Harry Parrish became Finance co-chair with Cranwell. The committee sharing relationship continued for two years after Republicans took majority control in 2000. Moss conceded the Minority leader position to Cranwell. The Republicans had complete control of the redistricting process in 2001, and dismantled Cranwell's district. Portions of his district were split among three Republican-held districts. Cranwell retired to focus on his law practice. Cranwell was elected as state Democratic party chair on June 18, 2005.

Notes

References

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External links

Personal Webpage
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cranwell, Richard 1942 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Democratic Party of Virginia chairs Virginia lawyers Virginia Tech alumni Virginia Tech Hokies football players University of Richmond School of Law alumni People from Vinton, Virginia People from Ceredo, West Virginia People from Kenova, West Virginia