From today's Washington Post:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">
Va. Republicans Devolites, Davis to MarryBy Lisa Rein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 26, 2004; Page B04
Two of Northern Virginia's most prominent politicians are announcing a merger. Their own.
Rep. Thomas M. Davis III and state Sen. Jeannemarie A. Devolites, Fairfax County Republicans, have begun to tell friends and colleagues they plan to marry in June.
Davis is a popular congressman seeking a sixth term in November whose influence in the national GOP grew with his recent chairmanship of the party's powerful fundraising arm. Devolites, a rising star in the state party, won a Senate seat last fall after three terms in the House of Delegates and had ambitions to run for lieutenant governor next year. She was the first Republican woman to hold a leadership post in the House and is the only female GOP senator.
"We're very, very happy," Devolites, 48, said yesterday. "We're extremely supportive of each other. Having someone who's in the same profession and understands what the demands are makes a big difference."
Both Davis and Devolites have been married once before and between them have seven children. They have bought a house outside Vienna, located in both of their districts.
Davis, 55, said he and Devolites were
friends for several years before the relationship blossomed. Devolites and her husband John Devolites filed for divorce in September 2000.
Davis was divorced from his wife last year. Devolities described her fiance yesterday as a
mentor who has guided a number of Republican women in Virginia politics.
Until last fall, Devolites had talked openly about pursuing a campaign for lieutenant governor in 2005, enhancing a GOP ticket with an appeal to female voters and those in the vote-rich Washington suburbs. But she said yesterday she decided it was more prudent to establish herself in the Virginia Senate before running for statewide office.
"I have plenty of time," she said. "After the election, I was exhausted." With her youngest daughter in high school, the demands of a statewide campaign would have been too disruptive to her family, she said.
Davis was elected to Congress in 1994 after serving on the Fairfax Board of Supervisors, of which he was chairman. Last fall he worked unsuccessfully to swing the balance of power on the county board, supporting the GOP candidates for chairman and several other seats. Now chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, he also headed the National Republican Congressional Committee, a group devoted to winning U.S. House seats, from 1998 through 2002. During that time, the committee spent more on nonfederal races in Virginia than in any other state, helping to consolidate Republican control in the General Assembly.
Devolites, who works as a technology consultant, benefited most from Davis's campaign donations,
receiving more than $140,000 over the last four campaigns. He was her largest single donor. The couple said yesterday that Davis contributed minimally to Devolites' state Senate race, giving her about $6,000. "Jeannemarie is a prodigious fundraiser, and she didn't need my money," Davis said.
Davis said he would not rule out contributing to his wife's future political campaigns.
"We're a team. I've got a campaign fund, and she'll get what she needs. It's safe to say that if she wants to run again, I'll support her."
(emphasis added) </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Hmmmmmmmm.
WAT
