Vance Wilkins

Vance Wilkins
Official portrait, 1978
53rd Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates
In office
January 12, 2000 – June 15, 2002
Preceded byTom Moss
Succeeded byLacey Putney (acting)
Minority Leader of the Virginia House of Delegates
In office
November 19, 1991 – January 12, 2000
Preceded byAndy Guest
Succeeded byRichard Cranwell
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
In office
January 11, 1978 – June 15, 2002
Preceded byDonald G. Pendleton
Succeeded byBen Cline
Constituency
Personal details
Born
Shirley Vance Wilkins Jr.

(1936-08-12) August 12, 1936 (age 88)
Amherst, Virginia, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseLeona Elena Ehlert
Alma materVirginia Tech (BS)
OccupationGeneral contractor
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/serviceUnited States Air Force
Years of service1958–1960

Shirley Vance Wilkins Jr. (born August 12, 1936) is a retired American politician of the Republican Party. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1978 to 2002. In 2000 he became the first-ever Republican Speaker of the Virginia House and first non-Democratic Speaker since the Readjuster Party controlled the House in the early 1880s.

Wilkins was considered the driving force in the expansion of Republican House membership in the 1980s and 1990s, especially after he became minority leader in 1992. In his first term as Speaker, he oversaw the redistricting of the House after the 2000 census that led to an increase in the Republican majority from 52–47 (1 independent) to 64–34 (2 independents) after the November 2001 election.