Drake, Thelma (Thelma Day), 1949-

Thelma Day Drake (born November 20, 1949) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, she represented Virginia's 2nd congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2005 to 2009.

Born Thelma Mary Day in Elyria, Ohio, she attended both Elyria Catholic High School and Elyria High School there. She later attended Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. She left Ohio at age 17 and relocated to Norfolk, Virginia, with her first husband, a Navy serviceman. In 1974 she married Joe Sawyer, but this marriage also ended in divorce. She married Thomas E. (Ted) Drake in 1990. When she settled in Norfolk, she became active in local civic organizations—including the Granby High School PTA. She also was active in the local Republican Party. Drake eventually settled into a career in real estate. As a successful agent for more than 20 years, Drake developed a base of connections throughout the Norfolk area. In 1995 she won election to the house of delegates, where she served five consecutive terms.

After two-term Republican incumbent Edward Schrock abruptly ended his re-election campaign and announced his decision to retire from the House in January 2005, local party leaders turned to Drake as their candidate for the open seat. Capitalizing on her wide name recognition from her decade in the state assembly and from the slight conservative tilt of a district populated by military families and retirees, Drake won a narrow victory. From her seat on Armed Services, Drake advocated for the expansion of several naval weapons programs and increasing the number of naval vessels under portage at the Norfolk Naval Station. Drake also firmly supported the George W. Bush administration policies in Iraq, opposing a 2007 proposal to set a firm deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. occupation forces. Drake’s seat on the Resources Committee gave her jurisdiction over policies affecting the marine and coastal environment of the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean which her district abutted. She was also a member of the Congressional Shellfish Caucus—a platform from which to address and educate Members and the public about revitalization efforts in the Bay. In the 109th Congress, she cosponsored a bill to establish the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail. Having narrowly won reelection in 2016, Drake lost her bid for a third term to Democrat Glenn Nye.

After Congress, Drake held several public transportation positions. She was director of the Virginia department of rail and public transportation (2010–2013), then became the legislative liaison for the city of Norfolk transportation department (2015–2016) before being promoted to Norfolk’s assistant director of transportation. In early 2018 and again in the first session of the 116th Congress (2019–2021), Drake was nominated by President Donald J. Trump as the Federal Transit Administration Director. In both cases, the Senate failed to act on confirmation.