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From The Roanoke Times

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Sen. Charles Hawkins, R-Chatham, announced Tuesday that after 25 years in the General Assembly he's decided not to seek re-election.

"There's a season for everything, and this is just the season," Hawkins said. "I felt it was the right time to do this."

Hawkins joins a growing list of Senate Republicans, including Russ Potts of Winchester and John Chichester of Northumberland County, to retire this year. On the House side, another senior Republican legislator, Del. Vince Callahan of Fairfax County, also is retiring.

Hawkins, 63, was elected to the House of Delegates in 1981, then to the Senate in 1991, where he replaced the retiring Sen. Onico Barker. He's run the bulk of his campaigns unopposed.

His political career will be remembered largely for his fiery oratory and quick wit.

"He is so eloquent and so passionate," said Del. Robert Hurt, R-Chatham, who grew up in Hawkins' shadow and is considering running for his seat in the Senate. "It stems from the fact he is a son of the soil. He is someone who has never forgotten where he came from and never forgotten the people he represents."

Madison Marye, the longtime senator from Montgomery County, said Hawkins was a "true Virginia gentleman."

"I can tell you this about Charles: He's one of the last old-time-type senators to serve," Marye said. "He'd get up and make a great off-the-cuff speech. They were sometimes maybe a little flowery. [But] I used to love to hear him speak."

Sen. Marty Williams, R-Newport News, was one of Hawkins' closest friends in Richmond over the past 10 years.

"He's the first person in the Senate that really reached out to me in a friendship way," Williams said. "He and I both like to enjoy an occasional cigar, so he invited me out for one one night and shared a lot of Senate history with me."

Williams regularly corrects those who refer to Hawkins as "Charlie," saying the Southside senator much prefers "Charles."

"He's one of my all-time favorites," Williams said. "He's a keeper of the tradition, and I'm not talking about the Senate tradition but Virginia tradition ... You depend on him to occasionally get rattled and stand up and say, 'What is it you think you're doing? What is it all about? This is not what we're about.' "

In a rapidly changing Virginia, Hawkins provided a loud voice for rural localities. He constantly defended tobacco farmers. He was the Senate patron of a bill that created the Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission, which was established to invest and spend half of the $4 billion Virginia receives from the tobacco buyout.

Hawkins serves as that body's chairman, and he said he'd like to remain in that position even after his retirement at the end of the year.

In a written statement, Hawkins noted that times had changed for Southside Virginia since he first came to the General Assembly.

"When I was first elected, tobacco was the primary cash crop and Dan River Mills was our largest employer and Lane Furniture was dominant among furniture manufacturers. Now we are experiencing declines in all industries upon which we relied," Hawkins said. "Since the formation of the tobacco commission, which allowed us to make investments for the future that otherwise would not have been possible, I think many impacts on our changing economy were lessened."

Hurt echoed that statement and said the tobacco commission's work to draw new economic development and invest in education helped provide hope to a region devastated by the changing global economy.

"It's been a challenge in recent years because of the losses in the tobacco and textile sectors," Hurt said. "I shudder to think where we'd be if it weren't for Sen. Charles Hawkins. ... He talks about our history so eloquently, but he always -- always -- talks about the future and he does it in a way that inspires confidence and hope and ultimately has led to the great successes and advances we've made in the last few years."

House Minority Leader Del. Ward Armstrong, D-Henry County, said the loss of Hawkins represents a blow to Southside Virginia.

"Clearly, Charlie's got a lot of seniority," Armstrong said. "That's one of the ways we've been able to counterbalance the increase in the number of representatives from Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. That will be a loss."

During the transportation debate of the past two years, Hawkins, who lives on a dirt road, has advocated raising the gasoline tax to provide "long-term sustainable revenue" for road construction and maintenance projects. He drew criticism but remained firm. In 2006 he sponsored the Senate's transportation plan to raise taxes and fees to generate more than $1 billion annually, which ultimately was killed by the House of Delegates.

Hawkins grew up on a tobacco farm just outside Chatham. His legislative office is located in the same room where at age 15 he started working in the stockroom of a haberdashery. After high school he took a few correspondence courses from the University of Virginia before eventually quitting to go into the clothing business full time. Before he retired from his business, Hawkins ate lunch early each day so he could talk to customers and constituents when they came in during the noon hour.

Hawkins' 19th Senate District includes Franklin County, Pittsylvania County, Danville and a portion of Campbell County.