Janet Howell | |
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Member of the Virginia Senate from the 32nd district |
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Assumed office January 8, 1992 |
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Preceded by | Clive L. DuVal II |
Personal details | |
Born |
Washington, D.C. |
May 7, 1944
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | A. (for Alfred) Hunt Howell, Ph.D. (1966-present) |
Children | Eric (m. Theresa, children Ella (~2005), Sylvia (~2008) Brian (m. Ania) |
Parents | Edward Fulton and Elsie (Lightbown) Denison |
Residence | Fairfax County, Virginia |
Alma mater |
Oberlin College (B.A., 1966) University of Pennsylvania, (M.A., 1968) |
Committees | Privileges and Elections Courts of Justice Education and Health Finance Rules |
Website | www.janethowell.com |
Janet Denison Howell (born May 7, 1944 in Washington, D.C.) is an American politician. A Democrat, she was elected to the Senate of Virginia in 1991. She still represented the 32nd district in Fairfax County as of January 2017[update].
She was born to Edward Fulton and Elsie (Lightbown) Denison. Her father was a prominent economist at the U. S. Department of Commerce and the Brookings Institution, and fellow Oberlin alumnus.
Mrs. Howell taught in the Philadelphia school district, 1968–1969, and was a legislative assistant in the Virginia State Senate from 1989 to 1991.
The Reston Times named her Restonian of the year in 1984. In 1991 the Virginia Association of Social Workers honored her as Virginian of the year. She was named Senator of the Year (Fraternal Order of Police, 1998), Citizen of Yr. (ARC, 1998). She was Chairman of the Fairfax County (VA) Social Services Board, 1979–82, State Bd. Social Svcs., Va., 1986–91, Reston (Va.) Transp. Com., 1986–91; pres. Reston Community Assn., 1982–85, Citizen of Yr., 1990.
Mrs. Howell reported financial assets in 2010 worth more than $US1.48 million and possibly more than $6 million.
Janet Howell ran for reelection in Virginia's November 8, 2011 election. The Virginia General Assembly drew new legislative districts to reflect the U.S. Census of 2010. As chairman of the Senate of Virginia's committee on privileges and elections, Mrs. Howell led the process to draw new Senate district boundaries, and she did so to preserve her party's majority and to improve her own reelection prospects within the law. If the U.S. Department of Justice or U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia approves the plan, as required by the voting rights act, she will acquire some reliably Democrat voting precincts and shed others that lean Republican.