Louise Lucas
Louise Lucas | |
|---|---|
| President pro tempore of the Virginia Senate | |
| Assumed office January 8, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Stephen Newman |
| Member of the Virginia Senate from the 18th district | |
| Assumed office January 8, 1992 | |
| Preceded by | Howard Anderson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lillie Louise Boone January 22, 1944 Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Otis Lucas |
| Education | Norfolk State University (BS, MA) |
Lillie Louise Lucas (née Boone; born January 22, 1944) is an American politician serving as a Virginia state senator, representing the 18th District in the southeast region of the state since 1992. Democrats won a majority of seats in the 2019 Virginia Senate election, so Lucas succeeded Republican Stephen Newman as the Virginia Senate's President pro tempore. She is the first woman and first African American to hold that office. She also chairs the powerful Committee on Finance and Appropriations, the first African American in that role.