Todd Edward Pillion (born November 1, 1973) is an American dentist, business owner, and politician from the Commonwealth of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. A member of the Republican Party, Pillion represents the 40th district in the

Virginia Senate The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...

Southwest Virginia Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the commonwealth. Located within the broader region of western Virginia, Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all Virg ...

. He previously represented the

4th district Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

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-number ...

. Pillion is from

Abingdon, Virginia Abingdon is a town in Washington County, Virginia, United States, southwest of Roanoke. The population was 8,376 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Washington County. The town encompasses several historically significant sites and f ...

Education and military career

Pillion graduated from

Thomas Walker High School Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

in Ewing, Virginia, and then from

Lincoln Memorial University Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) is a private university in Harrogate, Tennessee. LMU's campus borders on Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. As of fall 2019, it had 1,975 undergraduate and 2,892 graduate and professional students. LMU ...

Harrogate, Tennessee Harrogate is the largest city in Claiborne County, Tennessee, United States. It is adjacent to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. The community has been known as "Harrogate" since the 19th century, but did not incorporate by that name un ...

. Finally, Pillion graduated from the

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virginia ...

School of Dentistry. He joined the

Virginia Army National Guard The Virginia Army National Guard is composed of approximately 7000 soldiers and maintains 46 armories in communities throughout Virginia. The Governor may call individuals or units of the Virginia National Guard into state service during emerg ...

, with the commission of captain. He served with the 42nd Infantry Division in Operation Iraqi Freedom, operating in

Tikrit Tikrit ( ar, تِكْرِيت ''Tikrīt'' , Syriac: ܬܲܓܪܝܼܬܼ ''Tagrīṯ'') is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Governorate. , it h ...

. He was promoted to major by 2009, when he left the Virginia Army National Guard after eight years of service.

Political career

In December 2014, Pillion won a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

to the House of Delegates to fill the seat of Ben Chafin, a Republican who was elected to the

Virginia State Senate The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...

. In 2019, Pillion was elected to the open 40th district of the

, defeating independent Ken Heath.

References

External links

Todd Pillion
at the Virginia Public Access Project Living people Politicians from Abingdon, Virginia National Guard (United States) officers American dentists Republican Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Republican Party Virginia state senators 21st-century American politicians 1973 births Lincoln Memorial University alumni Virginia Commonwealth University alumni {{Virginia-VASenate-stub