sentences:  In 1924, he was elected President of the Roanoke Bar Association and, in 1927, was elected to the Virginia Senate (a part-time position), and was re-elected in 1931.He was appointed Attorney General of Virginia in March 1934 to fill out the term of John R. Saunders (who had died in office).He won election to that office in 1937 against Republican Gerould M. Rumble.