Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 22, 1994 TAG: 9411220125
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Bedford County Bar Association announced Monday that it will endorse him in his bid for the judgeship of Bedford County General District Court.
"We have all hopes that Jim Updike will be the next General District Court judge sitting in Bedford County," said Louis Harrison, president of the 24-member association.
Updike could not be reached for comment about the endorsement, which makes him the leading contender for the seat of General District Judge James Farmer, who will retire in June. Bedford's bar association held its vote by secret ballot last week; the results were announced Monday.
Updike's challengers for the Bedford endorsement were Bedford lawyer Bob Wandrei, Lynchburg Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Sally Steele and Lynchburg lawyer Harold Black.
Bar associations in Amherst and Nelson counties and Lynchburg, which are in the same judicial district as Bedford, also make recommendations for the judgeship, which will be decided by the General Assembly next year.
Amherst and Nelson counties nominated three candidates last week: Updike, Black and Lynchburg attorney Bill Light.
Del. Lacey Putney, I-Bedford, said last week that he would support a Bedford candidate for the nomination, no matter who the candidate was.
Sen. Elliot Schewel, D-Lynchburg, said, "On my list, Jim [Updike] would certainly be one of several contenders." Though a Bedford address would be a plus for whomever he supports for the judgeship, it won't be the deciding factor behind his vote, Schewel said.
Updike, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic nomination for state attorney general in 1993, said last week that he would relinquish his ambitions for statewide office if he becomes a judge.
Mary Margaret Cash, who handled Updike's fund raising for that campaign, said Updike probably could have gotten the 1997 nomination for attorney general with some early campaigning and fund raising. "I think if he wanted to run for statewide office again, there are a lot of people who would have liked to see him do it.
"But if he takes this judgeship, he'll do a good job. He's been an excellent prosecutor, and he'll make an excellent judge. No matter what he does in public service, he'll do it well."
Updike, the youngest commonwealth's attorney in the state when he was elected at age 26 in 1979, is best known for prosecuting the Jens Soering murder case. Soering, a University of Virginia honor student, and his girlfriend, Elizabeth Haysom, were convicted in 1990 of killing Haysom's parents.
by CNB