Del. S. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, left, and Sen. Janet D. Howell, D-Fairfax, smile after reaching a compromise on redistricting legislation in 2011. Howell helped shape Virginia during her three decades in the state Senate.
RICHMOND — When Janet Howell, Fairfax, rose from her desk in the front row of the state Senate, all her colleagues knew she was about to say something quietly, but firmly, that they needed to pay close attention to.
Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, left, chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations committee, talks with Senate Minority Leader Tommy Norment, R-James City, right, in 2021.
ERA supporters Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, left, and Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, right, watched from the gallery as House members killed the ERA on a procedural vote during the floor session of the House of Delegates inside the Virginia state Capitol in 2019.
Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, left, chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations committee, and Del. Luke Torian, D-Prince William, chair of the House Appropriations committee, met in a hallway inside the Virginia state Capitol in 2020.
Sen. Janet D. Howell, D-Fairfax, and the other members of the Senate hold a news conference at the state Capitol in 2000 to announce their disappointment over the fate of most of the gun control bills introduced that year.
Del. S. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, left, and Sen. Janet D. Howell, D-Fairfax, smile after reaching a compromise on redistricting legislation in 2011. Howell helped shape Virginia during her three decades in the state Senate.
Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, left, chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations committee, talks with Senate Minority Leader Tommy Norment, R-James City, right, in 2021.
ERA supporters Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, left, and Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, right, watched from the gallery as House members killed the ERA on a procedural vote during the floor session of the House of Delegates inside the Virginia state Capitol in 2019.
Sen. Janet D. Howell, D-Fairfax, and the other members of the Senate hold a news conference at the state Capitol in 2000 to announce their disappointment over the fate of most of the gun control bills introduced that year.
Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, left, chair of the Senate Finance and Appropriations committee, and Del. Luke Torian, D-Prince William, chair of the House Appropriations committee, met in a hallway inside the Virginia state Capitol in 2020.
