Leslie L. Byrne

Infobox_Congressman
name = Leslie Byrne


date of birth = birth date and age|1946|10|27
place of birth = Salt Lake City, Utah
state = Virginia
district = 11th
term_start = January 3 1993
term_end= January 3 1995
preceded = "District re-created"
succeeded = Thomas M. Davis
party = Democrat
spouse = Larry Byrne

Leslie Byrne (born October 27, 1946 in Salt Lake City, Utah) is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia. She served for one term (1993-1995) in the 103rd Congress. She lost a bid for the Lieutenant Governorship in 2005 by a wide margin, and lost again in 2008 in her primary bid against Gerry Connolly for her old congressional seat.

Early life and career

Byrne grew up in Salt Lake City and attended both the University of Utah and Mount Vernon College in Ohio. [CongBio|B001213|inline=1] Shortly after her family's 1971 arrival in Northern Virginia, Byrne entered the public arena as an activist in community organizations and the Parent Teacher Associations for her children's schools. She served as President of the Fairfax Area League of Women Voters and Chairwoman of the Fairfax County Commission on Fair Campaign Practices.

In 1985, Byrne co-founded Quintech Associates, Inc., a project-based human resources consulting firm to the high-tech community. She served as president of Quintech until her election to Congress in 1992.

She is married to Larry Byrne, who is President of Byrne and Associates, an international consulting firm. They have two grown children, daughter Alexis and son Jason, and two grandchildren.

Political career

Byrne served in the Virginia House of Delegates for 7 years, starting in 1985 by defeating two-term Republican incumbent Gwen Cody, before being elected to the House of Representatives in 1992 from the newly created ushr|Virginia|11|11th congressional district. Virginia was awarded an additional House seat as a result of the 1990 U.S. Census.

She is the first woman to be have been elected to Congress from Virginia, and in fact, 1992 was known as the "Year of the Woman" for the large number of women elected to Congress in that election. While a member of the 103rd Congress, she served on the Public Works and Transportation Committee and Subcommittees on Surface Transportation, Water Resources; and Investigations and Oversight. Representative Byrne was also a member of the Post Office and Civil Service Committee, serving on the subcommittee on employee benefits and compensation. The freshman Democratic members of the 103rd Congress elected her to the leadership position of freshman caucus whip. She introduced and passed more legislation than any other freshman representative. In addition, two of her measures on childhood immunization passed into law early in the first session of the 103rd Congress. Rep. Byrne played a role in preventing cuts in federal workers' wages and benefits. Additionally, she helped lead the effort to improve federal oversight of the nation's 1.7 million miles of natural gas and petroleum pipelines. Byrne's legislative efforts included Medicaid reform; increasing opportunities of IRA holders to see their savings for first-time home purchases and college costs; cost savings on federal highway projects through value engineering and enhancing the international market for American high technologies. She helped obtain funds for rail from Tyson's Corner to Dulles.

Thomas M. Davis, then Chairman of the Fairfax Board of Supervisors, defeated her for re-election in 1994's "Republican Revolution." His campaign charged that Byrne was too liberal for the swing district she represented and that her voting record was too supportive of President Clinton. ["Byrne, Davis Backers Mix It Up." Eric Liption. "The Washington Post". October 13, 1994. P. V1.]

In 1996, Byrne sought the Democratic nomination for US Senate to challenge incumbent Senator John Warner. Future Virginia Governor Mark Warner (no relation) won the nomination at the 1996 Virginia Democratic Convention, garnering 1,889 Delegates to her 231. He went on to lose to Sen. Warner.

In 1998 she took a job at United States Information Agency advising its director on the Au Pair program. [ cite web
url = http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/usia/usiahome/releases/BYRNE.HTM
title = Press Release
accessdate = 2007-10-09
accessdaymonth =
accessmonthday =
accessyear =
author =
last = Walker
first = Jimmye
authorlink =
coauthors =
date = 1998-02-13
year =
month =
day =
format =
work = Release No. 02-98
publisher = United States Information Agency
pages =
language =
doi =
archiveurl =
archivedate =
quote = ]

Byrne returned to elected office when she was elected to the Senate of Virginia in 1999, winning a very close election against two-term incumbent Republican Jane Woods (45.52% to Wood's 45.39%). She left the Senate after one term, choosing not to seek reelection after she was drawn into the same district as another Democratic incumbent during redistricting. In the Senate of Virginia she sponsored legislation to prohibit people from sleeping in rooms except bedrooms, a response to complaints of students and poor immigrants crowded into residential houses. ["Bill Would Let Fairfax Limit Sleep to Bedrooms; Va. Senate Passes Legislation That Critics Say Unfairly Targets Crowded Immigrant Homes." "The Washington Post". January 27, 2001. P. A1.] [ cite web
url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/oct99/virginia27.htm
title = Statehouse Battle Puts Focus on Key N.Va. Races
accessdate = 2007-10-09
last = Timberg
first = Craig
date = 1999-10-27
work = The Washington Post
pages = A1 ]

Byrne was the 2005 Democratic Party candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. Republican Party candidate Bill Bolling defeated her in the November 8, 2005 general election.

In the United States Senate election in Virginia, 2006, Byrne endorsed future Senator James Webb for the Democratic nomination, while many local party activists supported his primary opponent, Harris Miller.

2008 congressional race

In 2008 Byrne ran for the Democratic nomination for Virginia's 11th congressional district, the seat she held from 1992 to 1994. The incumbent Thomas M. Davis, a Republican, had chosen not to seek reelection, leaving open a swing seat that would likely see a competitive general election. The Republican candidate for the November election is Keith Fimian.

In the primary election on June 10, 2008, she faced Gerald Connolly, Doug Denneny and Lori Alexander. Connolly, Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, defeated Byrne by 58% to 33%. [ [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/10/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4171067.shtml Connolly Wins Dem Nomination For Davis' Seat] , CBS News, 2008-06-10.] [ [https://www.voterinfo.sbe.virginia.gov/election/DATA/2008/0FAE817B-0A55-4793-B013-7C90AFF6C2E5/Unofficial/6_s.shtml 2008 June Democratic Primary Unofficial Results] , State Board of Elections.]

Issues

Byrne has supported public/private partnerships for transportation, including the Dulles Greenway project when she was in the Virginia House of Delegates. Byrne has said that high-occupancy toll lanes are also promising as long as local governments are kept out of the planning process. Byrne supports linking land use policy to the needs of big business, two policy areas that are typically considered separately in Virginia.

Election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Gerry Connolly
votes = 14,233
percentage = 57.9
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Leslie Byrne
votes = 8,196
percentage = 33.4
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Doug Denneny
votes = 1,508
percentage = 6.1
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Lori Alexander
votes = 638
percentage = 2.6
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (US)
candidate = Bill Bolling
votes = 979,265
percentage = 50.5
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Leslie Byrne
votes = 956,906
percentage = 49.3
change = Election box candidate
party = Write-ins
candidate =
votes = 4,065
percentage = 0.2
change =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Leslie Byrne
votes = 37,904
percentage = 32.8
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Viola Baskerville
votes = 30,083
percentage = 26.1
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Chapman Petersen
votes = 24,992
percentage = 21.7
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Phillip Puckett
votes = 22,400
percentage = 19.4
change =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Leslie Byrne
votes = 13,719
percentage = 45.5
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (US)
candidate = Jane Woods (Incumbent)
votes = 13,682
percentage = 45.4
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Virginia Dobey
votes = 2,726
percentage = 9.0
change =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (US)
candidate = Thomas M. Davis
votes = 98,216
percentage = 52.9
change = +7.7Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Leslie Byrne (Incumbent)
votes = 84,104
percentage = 45.3
change = -4.7Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Gordon Cruickshank
votes = 3,246
percentage = 1.8
change =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Leslie Byrne
votes = 114,172
percentage = 50.0
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (US)
candidate = Henry Butler
votes = 103,119
percentage = 45.2
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = A. T. Narrow
votes = 6,681
percentage = 2.9
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Perry Mitchell
votes = 4,155
percentage = 1.8
change =

Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Leslie Byrne (Incumbent)
votes = 8,017
percentage = 60.5
change = +3.8Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (US)
candidate = Norman Caron
votes = 5,226
percentage = 39.5
change = -3.8

Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Leslie Byrne (Incumbent)
votes = 10,485
percentage = 56.7
change = +4.3Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (US)
candidate = A. Strode Brent Jr.
votes = 8,018
percentage = 43.3
change = -4.3

Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Leslie Byrne (Incumbent)
votes = 8,172
percentage = 52.4
change = -2.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (US)
candidate = A. Strode Brent Jr.
votes = 7,434
percentage = 47.6
change = +2.6

Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Leslie Byrne
votes = 8,497
percentage = 55.0
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (US)
candidate = Gwendalyn Cody (Incumbent)
votes = 6,941
percentage = 45.0
change =

References

External links

*
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20060112064804/www.lesliebyrne.org/site/PageServer?pagename=homepage Internet Archive of Campaign Website]
* [http://dela.state.va.us/dela/MemBios.nsf/6d7fad96a2f89a6785256c23006d3f89/0678893c96a619e785256b35005fd02f?OpenDocument Virginia House of Delegates biography]
* [http://www.lesliebyrne.org Campaign site]