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 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 ...

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

Virginia Governor The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia serves as the head of government of Virginia for a four-year term. The incumbent, Glenn Youngkin, was sworn in on January 15, 2022. Oath of office On inauguration day, the Governor-elect takes th ...

Tim Kaine Timothy Michael Kaine (; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th lieutenant governor of Virgini ...

from 2006 to 2010.

Biography

Baskerville was born in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

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

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III a ...

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. Iowa is ranked the 28th-best law school in the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or U ...

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 of ...

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Prior to her appointment as Secretary of Administration, she 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 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 responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

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

, serving from 1998 to 2005. In 2005, she became the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

woman to seek the

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 ...

nomination for

Lieutenant Governor of Virginia The lieutenant governor 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 by Winsome Earle S ...

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

Leslie L. Byrne Leslie Larkin Byrne (born October 27, 1946) is an American businesswoman and politician. In 1992, she became the first woman elected to the United States House of Representatives from the Commonwealth of Virginia. A member of the Democratic Par ...

, 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 the s ...

, and State Senator Phillip Puckett. 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 lawyer and politician serving as the Virginia state senator from the 9th district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she was previously elected to the Virginia House of ...

. 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 ...

, she 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 of Virginia. The SBE promotes the proper administration ...

, 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. She was succeeded as Virginia Secretary of Administration by Lisa Hicks-Thomas 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 Women state legislators in Virginia Richmond, Virginia City Council members African-American state cabinet secretaries African-American women in politics Girl Scouts of the USA people College of William & Mary alumni University of Iowa College of Law alumni African-American state legislators in Virginia Women city councillors in Virginia African-American city council members in Virginia 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians