When Jeannemarie Devolites won a seat in the Virginia Senate Tuesday night, she became the first female University graduate elected to a seat in the Virginia Senate. Devolites, a member of the Republican party who graduated from the college in 1978 with a degree in math, won the election by a less than 6 percent margin over the Democratic candidate. The Vienna resident will be sworn in as a Senate member Jan. 14, 2004. She will represent the 34th district which includes Fairfax City and County.
Devolites also was the first female University graduate elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. She was elected in 1997 and will continue to serve through the current term. Devolites is the current Republican House Majority Whip, and is the first woman to hold that position of leadership in the Republican party.