| Vince Callahan | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 34th district |
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| In office 1968–2008 |
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| Succeeded by | Margaret Vanderhye |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 30, 1931 Washington, DC |
| Political party | Republican |
| Residence | McLean, Virginia |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Vincent F. "Vince" Callahan Jr. (born 30 October 1931 in Washington, DC)[1] is an American politician who served for 40 years as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. From January 1968 to January 2008, he represented the 34th district, which covers McLean, Great Falls, Tysons Corner, and parts of Herndon and Vienna. At the time of his retirement, he was the longest-serving Republican in the Virginia General Assembly.
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Vince Callahan served as a Marine in Korea from 1950 to 1952.[1] He attended Georgetown University and earned a B.S. in Foreign Service in 1957. After serving four years as a lieutenant in the Coast Guard, Callahan ran for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 1965, but lost to Fred G. Pollard. He ran for Delegate in 1967 and won. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S House of Representatives in 1976.[1]
Callahan was considered by many to be a moderate Republican and was relatively popular in his district. While he has introduced legislation to restrict the death penalty to those 18 and older, Callahan also introduced a bill to ban all stem-cell research in the Commonwealth of Virginia.[2] In addition, Callahan introduced legislation in 2007 that would have increased the minimum wage in Virginia. He was also awarded the Equality Public Servant Award by Equality Virginia, a gay-rights group which rarely supports Republicans.[3]
Prior to 2007, he had last been challenged in 2001 by Dale Evans, a real estate agent, and won with 60.05% of the vote.[4]
As the only Republican state legislator within the Capital Beltway, Callahan was considered a target by Democrats keen to secure their hold on Northern Virginia. On 2007-03-06, Callahan announced that he would not run for re-election in November 2007.[5]
He endorsed his former legislative aide for appropriations Dave Hunt to succeed him but Hunt lost to Margaret Vanderhye, the Democratic candidate, in the November election.[6]