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Virginia Capitol C onnections, Spring 2016
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Senator or Mayor Alexander
I have been a member of the Virginia
General Assembly since 2002—as a
delegate for 10 years and currently as a
senator since 2012. As many already know,
I am now running for mayor of Norfolk, the
city where I was born and raised.
My aim in public service has always
been to help my community and fellow
citizens. Serving as mayor of Norfolk would
be another such opportunity—but from a
position where I can provide direct action.
Should I be elected, I will also be returning
to some of my roots. Before I came to the General Assembly, I served
on Norfolk’s Human Services Commission, Planning Commission
and Economic Development Authority. I got my start in public
service more than 20 years ago as president of the Beacon Light Civic
League, which represents Norfolk’s Berkley neighborhood, where I
grew up.
Norfolk faces several critical challenges, especially in job
creation, workforce development, education and the rising sea level.
My hometown also is blessed with great opportunities and resources,
including the civic spirit and determination of its residents, business
sector, nonprofit organizations, faith communities, and academic and
medical institutions. So it is an exciting time to be working directly
on Norfolk’s issues.
I have learned much by working with fellow legislators and the
administrations of several governors. I will always be grateful for those
experiences. The combination of my General Assembly service and my
previous work on several Norfolk boards and commissions has given
me a unique set of skills, insights and resources that Norfolk needs in
its leadership. The timing is right for me—and for Norfolk.
Mark
Twain “The reports of my death
are greatly exaggerated.”
–Mark Twain “Mark Twain breathes life into history and
will leave a smile on your face. From
Missouri in the 19th century to
Virginia in the 21st, Mark Twain’s
insights and humor are timeless.”
Experience the wit of one of
America’s greatest humorists
when Richmond’s David
Bailey presents Mark Twain.
David Bailey, president of
David Bailey Associates,
is a former college history
professor and a veteran of
more than 500 performances
of Mark TwainAlive, in 13 states.
For more information visit
or Mark Twain Alive on Facebook.
To book Mark Twain Alive for your theater, banquet, fund raiser
or other event contact:
David Bailey Associates
804-643-5554 •
“Alive!”
In Memoriam
Madison Ellis Marye
December 3, 1925 – February 23. 2016
By Bernie Henderson
The trajectory of history tells us that
Madison E. Marye should not have been a
member of the Senate of Virginia. At least
as far back as the early 1940s, Radford and
neighboring counties had been habitually
and overwhelmingly sending Republicans
to the Virginia Senate. When there were just
two Republicans in the Virginia Senate, they
were both from the Radford area. This is the
district that improved Virginia by electing Ted Dalton, Jim Turk and
John Dalton to the Senate (and I say that as a Democrat).
The 1973 statewide election, Senator John Dalton became
Lieutenant Governor. A special election would fill his vacated Senate
seat in the safest Republican district in Virginia. This special election
resulted in a special surprise. Somehow, a Democrat, farmer and
army veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam who had just been
defeated for a House of Delegates seat, managed to become Dalton’s
successor by a whopping landslide of 9 votes. He would go on to be
re-elected in this otherwise Republican area seven times.
Madison Marye was quite different from most other Senators,
Democrat and Republican. He drove a pick-up truck back and forth
to the Capitol before it was fashionable. There were many more
Levi Strauss than Brooks Brothers labels in his closet. On Saturday
mornings, he could be found at the country store rather than the
country club. At a time when the Virginia Senate was a bastion of
the traditional establishment, Madison Marye was an unabashed
populist, and perhaps even a confessed progressive.
The highest compliment Senator Marie could give to a piece of
legislation was to say, “I think this is a good ‘little people’ bill.” And
he never minded being poignantly plain spoken, as when he rose in the
Senate Chamber and said, “Mr. President, today I am sending to the
Clerk’s desk a bill to change the name of the Department of Corrections
to the Department of Punishments, because that’s what it is.”
Senator Marye demonstrated a consistently profound grasp of the
real, including the ability to never think too highly of himself. It is
doubtful that any other Senator, past or present, has ever said, “I don’t
want this committee to think that I know everything about what I am
talking about.” And he could be counted on to cut through pomposity
and political gimmickry, as when the Senate was considering limiting
the pieces of legislation a Senator could introduce, he asked, “Mr.
President, I would like to have all Senators that have introduced
worthless and frivolous legislation to stand.”
After 28 years, Madison Marye’s service in the Senate of
Virginia ended under unique circumstances; his constituents did not
replace him, but his constituents were literally taken away from him
by moving his district to Northern Virginia.
In supporting Governor Baliles’ transportation initiative, Senator
Marye said in his characteristic way that conveyed a message deeper
than mere words, “A lot of Virginians don’t have roads to get them
from where they are to where they want to be.” The whole point of
Madison Marye’s public service was to work to provide overlooked
and neglected Virginians with greater opportunities to get them from
where they were to where they want to be; to makeVirginia a place of
uncommon wealth of opportunities for all citizens.
Future generations of Virginians may not recognize the name and
works of Madison Marye, but public servants could do no better than
to emulate his example.
Bernie Henderson is the President and Funeral Celebrant at
Woody Funeral Home.
marye
Photo reprinted with permission granted by Todd Jackson,New River bureau chief,
The Roanoke Times
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