Rep. Herbert Bateman Dies At 72

Rep. Herbert Bateman, a nine-term congressman who in the 1970s was one of the first Virginia Democrats to break with his party and become a Republican, died Monday. He was 72.

Bateman had battled lung and prostate cancer over the past decade, and his uncertain health had prompted him to announce early this year that this session of Congress would be his last.

He died in his sleep early Monday in Loudoun County, where he had planned to play golf, said Bateman's spokesman, Dan Scandling. The precise cause of death was not immediately known, Scandling said.

“He was one of the most important figures in the transition from the old Virginia Democratic Party to the modern Republican Party,” said Ed Matricardi, executive director of the state GOP.

Bateman was elected to the state Senate in 1968 as a member of the conservative Democratic faction that dominated every facet of Virginia government for most of the 20th century. Like many Virginia Democrats at the time, he felt estranged from the liberal direction the party was heading nationally, so in 1976, he changed parties.

Today, the GOP controls the General Assembly, the governor's office and other top executive offices. Bateman was among five Republican congressmen from the state.

Bateman was first elected to Congress in 1982, taking the seat held by Republican Paul S. Trible. Trible had won a U.S. Senate seat that year.

In his 18 years in the House, he made good on his campaign pledges to bring defense contracts to his southeastern Virginia district. His hometown, Newport News, is among the world's major centers for the construction of warships.

Bateman was a deficit hawk and fought for a balanced budget. He supported the presidential line item veto, which Congress passed but the Supreme Court later struck down as unconstitutional. He was a steady opponent of abortion except in cases of rape or incest, and supported capital punishment.

Bateman remained popular in his district and seldom faced serious opposition for re-election. He had no Democratic opponent at all in his final two re-election bids.

He was born in Elizabeth City, N.C., moved to Virginia at an early age. He graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1949 and later earned a law degree from Georgetown University.

In 1981, while still in the state Senate, he ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor.