Former State Senator Janet Howell was a force to be reckoned with.
For 32 years in the Virginia Senate, the Reston Democrat fought against injustice, championed Northern Virginia and helped shape policies affecting residents across the Commonwealth.
Howell died Aug. 1, 2026, at age 82, more than two years after concluding one of the longest legislative careers among women in Virginia history. She leaves behind her husband, Hunt Howell; their sons, Eric and Brian; three grandchildren; and generations of friends, colleagues, neighbors and constituents whose lives she touched through a lifetime of public service.
Born Janet Denison in Washington, D.C., in 1944, Howell grew up in a family committed to public service. Her mother, Elsie Lightbown Denison, worked for the U.S. Labor Department’s Women’s Bureau and was active in civic affairs. Her father, Edward F. Denison, was an economist who worked for the Commerce Department and the Brookings Institution. Howell graduated from Oberlin College in 1966 and earned a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968. She married her college sweetheart, Hunt Howell, that same year.
After moving to Northern Virginia, Howell found both a home and a calling in Reston. She became deeply involved in community life, serving as president of the Reston Association and as a parent-teacher association president.
Long before she was a state senator, she was a community activist who believed that residents could come together to improve the place they called home. Reston was home to Howell long before it was the center of her political career.
In 1987, while serving as president of the Reston Community Association, she spoke about the community in distinctly personal terms. After three moves within Lake Anne Village, she noted that her children had never had to change friends—and added, “Neither have I.” Years later, reflecting on the man who created Reston, she called Robert E. Simon “a great visionary” and “a dear friend.” She returned to Simon’s Founder’s Day celebrations year after year, once telling him, “Thank you, Bob, you put together a community with your vision and determination against all odds.”
Her path to Richmond began in the late 1980s. Howell worked as a legislative assistant to Fairfax Delegate Ken Plum from 1989 to 1991, gaining firsthand experience in Virginia government. She was elected to the Senate in November 1991 and took office in January 1992, representing a Fairfax County district centered around Reston.
She would remain there for 32 years. “A major contributor to compassionate government in Virginia,” wrote Delegate Plum while sharing the news of her passing on Facebook.
Howell repeatedly broke barriers for women in Virginia politics. In 1995, she became the first woman to preside over the Senate, taking the chair for the 39 seconds needed to adjourn the chamber. In 1997, she became the first woman appointed to the powerful Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee. In 2008, she became the first woman named a Senate budget conferee, giving her a direct role in negotiating Virginia’s spending plan. In 2020, she reached the pinnacle of her career when she became the first woman to chair the Finance and Appropriations Committee, overseeing decisions involving billions of dollars in state spending.
But Howell’s legacy was never simply about historic firsts. “Janet was a role model, a mentor, a leader,” reflected State Senator Jennifer Boysko. “She also knew how to kick ass and take names while maintaining grace and integrity.”
She worked to strengthen Virginia’s laws addressing family violence, protect children from sexual predators and safeguard genetic information. Her advocacy for children was informed by her own experience of being assaulted as a young girl. Following the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, she helped lead Senate efforts to reform Virginia’s mental health system.
Education was another defining priority. Howell advocated for Virginia’s public schools and early-childhood education and supported higher education. She also fought for women’s rights and reproductive freedom and was a longtime supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment. Virginia finally approved ratification in 2020.
Throughout those years, Howell was part of a generation of Northern Virginia Democrats who transformed the region’s influence in Richmond. She worked closely with longtime Senate leader Dick Saslaw and remained connected to Ken Plum, her former employer and fellow advocate for Fairfax County. Their relationships reflected both the camaraderie and political determination that characterized Northern Virginia’s growing presence in the General Assembly.
Howell was also known for maintaining friendships across party lines. Politics could be fierce, but she understood that effective legislating depended on relationships, persistence and the ability to find common ground. “They were an elite group, led for years by John Chichester (R-Stafford), who acted in a manner often divorced from party politics,” reflected Chap Petersen.
Even as her influence expanded statewide, she remained deeply rooted in Reston and Fairfax County. Before entering the Senate, she chaired Virginia’s State Board of Social Services, and throughout her legislative career she carried Northern Virginia’s concerns into debates over education, health care, social services, mental health and the state budget.
When Howell announced in February 2023 that she would not seek another term, she said she had accomplished most of her legislative goals but acknowledged that important work remained, particularly in education and helping Virginians in need. Her final term ended Jan. 10, 2024.
Her legacy can be measured in numbers: 32 years in the Senate, more than two decades on the Finance and Appropriations Committee and a series of historic barriers broken for women.
But numbers tell only part of the story. “For over three decades, Janet served Northern Virginia with fierce determination, sharp intellect, and unwavering integrity,” stated State Senator Scott Surovell in reflection of her work.
Howell’s legacy lives in the children she worked to protect, the families she fought to help, the people confronting mental illness, the women demanding equality and the Northern Virginians who wanted their community’s voice heard in Richmond.
It also lives in her family: Hunt, her husband of more than 5 decades, her sons Eric and Brian, and her three grandchildren.
And it lives in Reston, the community she served before she ever held elected office and loved throughout her career. Janet Howell spent 32 years making Northern Virginia’s voice impossible to ignore. In doing so, she left an indelible mark on Virginia—and on the Reston community she called home.
