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Lacey Putney Wins Another Term in Virginia House

When Washington and Lee alumnus Lacey Putney, of the undergraduate Class of 1950 and the law Class of 1957, heads back to Richmond in January 2012 for the opening of the General Assembly, it will mark the 50th anniversary of the day that he first arrived in the House of Delegates.

Lacey was first elected in 1961. The Bedford, Va., Independent was reelected this month with 42 percent of the vote, which was 10 percent more than the Republican candidate and 16 percent more than the Democrat in the race. Although a comfortable margin, it was nothing like the 70 percent majorities that he’s had in recent elections that were not three-candidate affairs. This was also the first election since Lacey’s district, the 19th, had been redrawn. It now consists of the cities of Bedford and Covington, all of Alleghany County, parts of Bedford County and all but one precinct in Botetourt County.

The 83-year-old chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee will be back for his 51st year.  He is second only to a state senator in Wisconsin (55 years) as the longest-serving state legislator in the United States.

Lacey also has won some awards earlier this year, including one from the Virginia Governmental Employees Association; we blogged about them here.