Davis, Jo Ann, 1950-2007

Jo Ann Davis (June 29, 1950 – October 6, 2007) was an American businesswoman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, she served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001 until her death in 2007.

Born Jo Ann Sides in Rowan County, North Carolina, her family moved to Hampton, Virginia when she was nine. She graduated from Kecoughtan High School in Hampton, Virginia before attending Hampton Roads Business College. Afterward, she became an executive secretary at a Hampton real estate company. She married Chuck Davis, a battalion chief with the Hampton fire department. Jo Ann Davis earned a real estate license in 1984 and opened a property management company in 1988. She then established her own realty business in 1990. Encouraged to run for office by an employee, she ran a successful campaign that unseated a well-financed incumbent state delegate in 1997. Davis served in the House of Delegates until 2001.

Supporting bolstering defense spending, support for school choice, and anti-abortion policies, Davis bested four Republican candidates for the open U.S. House seat in Virginia's 1st Congressional district before easily winning election in the heavily Republican district. During her time in Congress, Davis was attuned to the needs of her district, with naval and air force installations in the Hampton Roads area, the Quantico Marine Corps Base, and a group of smaller military and NASA installations scattered throughout the region and developed an environmental record that won praise from both Democrats and Republicans. She was also a vocal supporter of the George W. Bush administration’s post-September 11th foreign policy, voting to authorize the war against Iraq and supporting the administration’s defense budget increases.

After battling breast cancer for two years, Davis died of the disease at her home in Gloucester County, Virginia.