The Roanoker - Sept/October 2021 - 35

The incident became a turning point in his
life. Ware graduated from the North Carolina
Central School of Law and came to Roanoke
in the '80s for a job with the Boy Scouts of
America. He opened his law firm later that
decade.
Soon Ware began participating in Roanoke
politics as a grassroots organizer. He was
elected as Democratic chairman of the 6th
with GOP members of the Roanoke Valley
delegation, such as then-state House Majority
Leader, now U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith of
Salem.
" When he was nominated, because there
wasn't going to be a Republican in that district,
I went to that victory party because I was glad
to have somebody I could work with in the
seat, " Griffith said.
Those warm relationships were reflected in
Ware's appointment to the powerful House
Appropriations Committee, which oversees
the state budget. But they sometimes sparked
tension with the other Roanoke Valley
Democrat, state Sen. John Edwards, who
declined to be interviewed for this story.
" The whole time we were down there, we
respected each other - but no love lost, " Ware
said.
" Onzlee just calls them the way he sees
them, " Griffith said. " If he disagreed with me,
he'd tell me. If he disagreed with somebody on
his side, he'd tell them too. Some folks thought
he should agree with them all the time, and
he didn't. "
Ware played an important role in the
Congressional District in time for Mary Sue
Terry's failed run for governor in 1993. Ware
said he took note of the campaign's failure to
organize and turn out Black voters. In future
campaigns, he took action to fix that. Ware paid
families to drive vans that took voters to the
polls, painstakingly building a reliable get-outthe-vote
network.
In 2003, Ware was elected as the first Black
state house delegate west of Lynchburg by
succeeding Clifton " Chip " Woodrum, who'd
served in the House of Delegates for 24 years.
" Everyone in Virginia politics knew him and
Top:
Ware on a campaign stop with former governor,
now U.S. Sen. Mark Warner.
Bottom:
Ware confers with former Del. Riley Ingram in the
General Assembly.
it didn't matter whether you were a Democrat
or Republican, folks only had kind words to
say about Onzlee, " said U.S. Sen. Mark Warner,
who was then governor. " We became great
personal friends. "
Ware's entire legislative career played out
while Republicans held a majority in the
House of Delegates. He found ways to work
narrow 2004 vote to pass Warner's budget,
but his presence required extraordinary
measures. Ware was with a girlfriend in Las
Vegas on a pre-scheduled vacation when an
important budget vote came up in the House
of Delegates. Warner flew Ware directly to
Richmond so that he could vote while his
girlfriend passed time in the carriage house at
the governor's mansion - a nice idea but a
decided downgrade from the Bellagio in Vegas.
That wasn't all.
" Obviously there's decorum to follow in the
General Assembly and coming straight from
Las Vegas, we couldn't have Onzlee miss out
on the vote because of his weekend attire, so
one of my staffers volunteered to trade outfits
- suit, tie, and all - with Onzlee to make sure
nothing got between him and casting a vote on
the floor, " Warner said.
Meanwhile, Ware took a hand in local
Roanoke politics as city Democrats splintered
on the question of whether to raze or preserve
Victory Stadium, on the banks of the Roanoke
River. Ware backed the faction that wanted to
tear down the stadium, and in 2006, his support
helped the so-called " For the City " ticket sweep
city council elections and ultimately seal the
stadium's fate.
TheRoanoker.com
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 35
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The Roanoker - Sept/October 2021

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