Creigh Deeds

Robert Creigh Deeds (born January 4, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as a member of the Senate of Virginia representing the 25th district since 2001.

Deeds was born on January 4, 1958, in Richmond, Virginia.

The name "Creigh" is a family surname, originating from Confederate sympathizer, David Creigh, a distant relative.

His family moved early in his life to Bath County.

After graduating from Bath County High School, Deeds enrolled in Concord College.

Deeds married Pamela Miller in February 1981.

He then entered the Wake Forest University School of Law, from which he received his Juris Doctor in 1984.

Deeds won election to the Virginia House of Delegates 1991 by defeating incumbent Emmett Hanger in a 57%–41% victory.

This started a nine-year career in the Virginia House of Delegates.

He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1992 to 2001.

In 1994 Deeds supported and was a major co-sponsor of George Allen's initiative to abolish parole for those convicted of a felony.

In the House of Delegates, Deeds introduced several legislative proposals, including introducing Megan's Law to the Virginia General Assembly, which was passed in 1998.

Other legislation promoted by Deeds include environmental protection and anti-drug laws.

Deeds won a special state senate election in 2001 to succeed Emily Couric, who had died of pancreatic cancer.

During Deeds' Senate tenure, legislation that Deeds proposed includes:

Deeds was also a proponent of a Senate resolution to close Virginia's gun show loophole, and made public appearances to generate support for the measure.

Previously, he was the Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Virginia in 2005 and Governor of Virginia in 2009.

He was defeated in both of those races by Republican Bob McDonnell.

Deeds lost by just 323 votes in 2005, but was defeated by a wide margin of over 17 percentage points in 2009.

In 2005, Deeds and John Edwards—a Virginia state senator from Roanoke—each announced that they planned to run for Attorney General of Virginia in the Democratic primary.

Edwards later decided not to run, leaving Deeds as the sole candidate for the Democratic nomination for the office.

In the general election campaign, running against Republican nominee Bob McDonnell, Deeds ran on his record as a moderate Democrat who supported gun rights, strong punishment for criminals, and the death penalty.

Deeds' stance on gun control included supporting a ban on semi-automatic firearms, but that did not prevent him from earning the endorsement of the NRA, which cited his patronage of a state constitutional amendment that guaranteed the right to hunt.

McDonnell outspent Deeds by almost three million dollars (McDonnell spent $5,962,067 to Deeds' $3,103,585); $2,084,089 of McDonnell's campaign contributions were funneled through the Republican State Leadership Committee, exploiting a loophole in state law that was closed by the General Assembly shortly after the election.

The initial result of the vote was 49.96%–49.95%, with Deeds behind by fewer than 350 votes.

Due to the closeness of the race's outcome, Deeds asked for a recount.

Judge Theodore Markow of Richmond set the recount for December 20, 2005, a date so close to the inauguration that invitations to the event were mailed without a name for the attorney general to be inaugurated.

The recount reaffirmed the earlier outcome, and McDonnell became attorney general.

Deeds announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for governor on December 13, 2007.

At the end of a close three-way race against former DNC chair Terry McAuliffe and former State Delegate Brian Moran, Deeds won by a large margin, taking about 50 percent of the vote in the June 9, 2009, Democratic Primary.

He again faced McDonnell, the Republican nominee, in the November 2009 general election.

McDonnell was selected at his party's nominating convention.

Deeds lost the gubernatorial race by a wide margin to McDonnell, 41.25% to 58.61%.

They divorced in February 2010, with an article in The Washington Post describing the marriage as "a casualty of a nearly 20-year pursuit of a lifelong ambition that kept [Deeds] away from home".

Deeds married Siobhan Gilbride Lomax of Lexington, Virginia, in June 2012.

On November 19, 2013, Deeds was stabbed multiple times at his home in Bath County, Virginia by his 24-year-old son, Gus, who then died by suicide.

Deeds was initially reported to be in critical condition at University of Virginia Medical Center.

Although a judge had issued an involuntary commitment order for Gus, and despite an intensive search, no available hospital bed could be found to provide him mental health treatment in the days before the attempted murder and he was released home without the ordered treatment.

As a consequence, several changes were made in the screening and admission process for people undergoing an emergency psychiatric examination in Virginia.

These changes include 2014 Virginia Senate Bill 260, sponsored by Deeds.