Lacey Putney

Lacey Putney
Official portrait, 1980
Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates
Acting
June 15, 2002  January 8, 2003
Preceded byVance Wilkins
Succeeded byBill Howell
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
In office
January 10, 1962  January 8, 2014
Preceded byCharles E. Green Jr.
Succeeded byTerry Austin
Constituency
Personal details
Born
Lacey Edward Putney

(1928-06-27)June 27, 1928
Big Island, Virginia, U.S.
DiedAugust 26, 2017(2017-08-26) (aged 89)
Goode, Virginia, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic (until 1967)
Other political
affiliations
Independent (1967–2017)
Spouses
  • Elizabeth Harlow
    (m. 1951; died 2005)
  • Carmela Bills
    (m. 2007)
Children2
Education
Occupation
  • Lawyer
  • politician
Signature
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Air Force
Years of service1950–1954
Battles/warsKorean War

Lacey Edward Putney (June 27, 1928 – August 26, 2017) was an American politician. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from January 1962 until January 2014, making him the longest-serving member in the history of the Virginia General Assembly and one of the longest-serving state legislators in American history. He represented a district centered around his hometown of Bedford for his entire career, and at various times represented parts of neighboring Bedford and Botetourt counties.

Putney, a lawyer from Bedford, was first elected as a Democrat in 1961. He left that party later in the decade and began running as an independent, although he caucused with the Republicans from 1998.

Putney announced in March 2013 that he would not run for reelection in 2013.