Lewis F. Payne Jr.


Lewis Franklin Payne Jr. is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from the Commonwealth of Virginia. He served the of the state, which covers much of Southside Virginia.

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.
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.

Electoral history