John J. Viola (born June 1, 1950) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the

Delaware House of Representatives The Delaware State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Delaware General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is composed of 41 Representatives from an equal number of constituencies, each of whom is ...

for District 26. He was elected in 1998 after defeating

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...

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 ...

Richard F. Davis. He served as the

majority whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...

in the House before he left the position and was replaced by John "Larry" Mitchell in 2019. His daughter, Andria Bennett, joined him in the House in 2012 after she was elected to replace her husband and Viola's son-in-law, Brad Bennett. Viola earned an associate degree in

business management Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of managemen ...

from

Goldey–Beacom College Goldey–Beacom College is a private university in Pike Creek Valley, Delaware. Its setting is suburban with a campus of . It uses a semester-based academic calendar and is accredited to award certificates, associate, baccalaureate, master's, and ...

Electoral history

*In 1998, Viola challenged incumbent Republican Richard F. Davis and defeated him in the general election with 1,897 votes (51.3%). *In 2000, Viola won the general election with 6,054 votes (74.0%) against Republican nominee John Megahan and Libertarian nominee Andrew Gregg. *In 2002, Viola won the general election with 3,123 votes (95.9%) against

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 ...

J. Oliver Lannak. *In 2004, Viola was unopposed in the general election, winning 6,255 votes. *In 2006, Viola won the Democratic primary with 381 votes (58.5%), and was unopposed in the general election, winning 3,795 votes. *In 2008, Viola won the general election with 6,316 votes (79.9%) against Republican nominee Jeremy Filliben. *In 2010, Viola won the general election with 4,819 votes (96.7%) against Republican nominee Hans-Erik Janco. *In 2012, Viola was unopposed for the general election, winning 7,476 votes. *In 2014, Viola was unopposed for the general election, winning 3,329 votes. *In 2016, Viola was unopposed for the general election, winning 7,745 votes. *In 2018, Viola won the general election with 5,417 votes (73.9%) against Republican nominee Justin Cruice. *In 2020, Viola was defeated in the Democratic primary by challenger Madinah Wilson-Anton by a 42.7%-41.2% margin.

References

External links

Official page
at the

Delaware General Assembly The Delaware General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Delaware Senate with 21 senators and the Delaware House of Representatives with 41 representatives. It meets at Legisl ...

* 1950 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Delaware House of Representatives 21st-century American politicians Goldey–Beacom College alumni People from Newark, Delaware {{Delaware-politician-stub