Name Lewis Payne, | Years of service 1968–1970 Political party Democratic | |
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Profession engineer, businessman, lobbyist Service/branch United States Army, United States Army Reserve | ||
Lewis Franklin (L.F.) Payne Jr. (born July 9, 1945) is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from the Commonwealth of Virginia. He served the 5th district of the state, which covers much of Southside Virginia.
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Biography
Payne was born in Amherst, Virginia. He is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and is a veteran and former officer of the U.S. Army. He also earned an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia. Prior to entering Congress, he was the founder and president of Wintergreen Resort.
Payne was elected as a Democrat to the 100th United States Congress, by special election to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative Dan Daniel, a conservative Democrat, and reelected to the four succeeding Congresses (serving from June 14, 1988 to January 3, 1997).
In 1994, his share of the vote fell sharply. Payne retired from Congress and ran for Lieutenant Governor in 1997. He lost a very close general election contest to John H. Hager, failing to overcome the tide of Jim Gilmore's gubernatorial victory over Democrat Don Beyer.
Subsequently, he joined McGuireWoods Consulting, a Washington, D.C., government relations firm associated with the Richmond-based law firm McGuireWoods, LLP.