Chesapeake Delegate Spruill Rises
Among Local, State Circles

Leonard E. Colvin
Chief Reporter
New Journal and Guide
  
       When Lionel Spruill, who sat on the Chesapeake Council in 1993, said he wanted to run for  the House’s 77th district seat, old political hands were not happy.

Del. Spruill and former Gov. Mark Warner who has announced he'll run for the Senate.

       “He is not articulate, he is not polished. What does a telephone repairman know about state policy and politics?” asked one member of the Democratic party’s Black political  establishment when questioned by the New Journal & Guide 14 years ago.  “I am surprised we have not found a better candidate so we won’t  regret this decision.”
       Spruill did have a political pedigree. He was a strong member of the  West Munden Civic League which helped him obtain a seat on council. He had been a member of  the Chesapeake Planning Council. And he had a following.
       Spruill first got his feet wet in politics in the late 1970s. He  lived in South Norfolk where there was little water drainage along the streets. When it rained flood waters would rush into the homes of the Black residents in the area.
     

        
        “We went down to council and raised hell,” recalled Spruill. “But we still did not get anywhere. We talked about  the difference between the way Black and White residents along Chesapeake Avenue were treated. On one side were Whites who had sidewalks and drainage but Blacks had nothing.”
       Spruill said he approached the city’s mayor and had a  long talk about the issue with the old pol.
       “He told me, he had 1200 White  people who voted for him, in that part of town.  But barely 300 Blacks had voted in that area,” he said.
“He  wanted to keep his job. He said it was not a matter of  Black or White, but how many votes he could count. So you know who would get the most attention with city resources?

      So I went back and organized the people in West Munden and we built a powerful civic league.  I got my first lesson in local politics. You had to organize the people to make a difference in their lives.”
       Thirteen years later, Delegate Spruill is one of the most powerful Black politicians  in the Democratic Party. Currently he is the minority party’s Vice Chair for Caucus Outreach.
       In the coming weeks, leading up to the General Election in November, the Democrats will be working hard to win the four seats in the Senate and 11 in the House they will need to capture the General Assembly.

To read the rest of this and other stories, subscribe to the New Journal and Guide.