Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510270096
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: G1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Whitehead-Dudley
Floyd County, the Franklin County precincts of Bonbrook, Boones Mill, Bowmans, Burnt Chimney, Callaway, Coopers Cove, Dickinson, Endicott, Glade Hill, Gogginsville, Hodgesville, Penhook, Rocky Mount East, Rocky Mount South, Rocky Mount West, Scruggs, Snow Creek, Sontag, and Waidsboro; the Bedford County precinct of Moneta and seven precincts in Pittsylvania County.
The breakdown: 16,840 voters in Franklin County; 6,487 voters in Floyd County; 6,390 voters in Pittsylvania County; and 1,579 voters in Bedford County.
Claude Whitehead (D)
Age: 56.
Occupation: Dentist; tobacco farmer
Residence: Chatham.
Political background: Former chairman, Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors.
Campaign headquarters:489-1556
Del. Allen Dudley (R)
Age: 47
Occupation: Banker
Residence: Rocky Mount
Political background: First elected in 1993. In line to become chairman of House Interstate Cooperation Committee if GOP wins majority.
Campaign headquarters:483-9342
IN 1993, when Democratic Del. Willard Finney's retirement created an open seat, banker Allen Dudley weighed the percentages and decided he could upset Democratic favorite Wes Naff.
He won by less than 200 votes to become the first Republican to hold this House seat in a quarter of a century. Dudley's win - and Franklin County's support for Gov. George Allen and U.S. Senate candidate Oliver North - served notice to Franklin's Democratic machine that its days of complete political dominance were over.
But the Democrats haven't quit the fight.
After four Franklin County Democrats - Finney, Party Chairman Eric Ferguson, Board of Supervisors Chairman Gus Forry and Sheriff's Capt. Billy Overton - chose not to run against Dudley this year, Pittsylvania County dentist and tobacco farmer Claude Whitehead accepted the party's nomination.
Dudley and Whitehead are similar in many ways.
They were raised on tobacco farms, they are fiscally conservative, and they have spent their lives in their respective counties.
However, one big difference separates them.
Dudley believes in many of Allen's initiatives - such as charter schools and sweeping welfare reform.
Whitehead says the Republicans are trying to needlessly overhaul one of the most effective state governments in the country.
As Election Day approaches, the Dudley-Whitehead race hasn't stirred the commotion of others in the region.
One of the highlights of the campaign centers not on Dudley or Whitehead, but state Sen. Virgil Goode, D-Rocky Mount.
Goode, a high school classmate of Dudley who is immensely popular in Franklin and Floyd counties, has been put in the middle of the two house candidates. Joint Whitehead-Goode signs are up around the district, but a large billboard on U.S. 220 touts the effective teamwork of Goode and Dudley.
A direct mail brochure to be sent out in late October by the Dudley campaign will feature a picture of the two together.
12TH HOUSE DISTRICT
The Montgomery County precincts of A-1, A-2, A-3, B-1, B-2, B-3, E-1, E-2, F-1, F-2, G-1, G-2 and part of C-2; and the Giles County precincts of Eggleston, Hatfield, Newport and Pembroke.
The breakdown: 21,247 voters in Montgomery County; 3,114 voters in Giles County.
Del. Jim Shuler (D)
Age: 51
Occupation: Veterinarian, the only one in the General Assembly
Residence: Blacksburg
Political background: First elected in 1993. Former member, Blacksburg Town Council.
Campaign headquarters:953-1103
Larry Linkous (R)
Age: 42
Occupation: Auctioneer
Residence: Blacksburg
Political background: Chairman of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors. Switched political parties in 1993.
Campaign headquarters:961-2608
DEL. JIM SHULER AND LARRY LINKOUS are battling it out in the 12th House District, which covers Blacksburg, much of Christiansburg, northern Montgomery County and eastern Giles County.
Shuler, the Democrat, won easily two years ago in the race to succeed Democrat Joan Munford, who retired after 12 years in the House. The district is considered a tough nut to crack by Republicans, who have long contended that it is gerrymandered to Democrats' advantage.
Republican candidate Linkous is an auctioneer who started out with a meat business at age 20. He also co-owns a catering business with his wife. Shuler has run a veterinary practice in Blacksburg for 22 years. Both candidates have had local government experience: Shuler on the Blacksburg Town Council in the 1980s; Linkous on the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, which he will leave in December.
Though they started off months ago describing each other as friends, the two candidates have been anything but friendly toward each other's records in the waning weeks of the campaign. Linkous has said Shuler is nothing more than a rubber stamp for House Democrats; Shuler has implied Linkous could have done more to support education while on the Montgomery board.
With Virginia Tech at the heart of the district, Linkous has faced the difficult task of convincing skeptical Tech employees that he'll be able to support their interests while being in the same party with Gov. George Allen, whose agenda includes dramatically reducing the state payroll. Linkous has argued that because of his local ties - he lives in a 200-year-old farm house in the Merrimac community where he was born - he'll be a better, more in-touch representative for all the various components of the district.
At the same time, Shuler has made much of his long association with Tech, first as a graduate and more recently as one of its defenders in the General Assembly, when he helped restore millions to Tech's Cooperative Extension service and other programs that Allen had targeted for cutting.
14th HOUSE DISTRICT
The Bedford County precincts of Montvale, Shady Grove and part of Stewartsville; the Roanoke County precincts of Bennett Springs, Bonsack, Botetourt Springs, Catawba, Clearbrook, Glenvar, Hollins, Lindenwood, Mason Valley, Mount Pleasant, Mountain View, North Vinton and South Vinton; the Botetourt County precincts of Amsterdam, Asbury, Blue Ridge, Cloverdale, Coyner Springs and Rainbow Forest; and Craig County.
The breakdown: 18,276 voters in Roanoke County; 8,517 voters in Botetourt County; 4,222 voters in Bedford County and 2,784 voters in Craig County.
Del. Richard Cranwell (D)
Age: 53
Occupation: Lawyer
Residence: Vinton
Political background: First elected in 1971. Now House majority leader and chairman of the House Finance Committee.
Campaign headquarters:342-1981
Trixie Averill (R)
Age: 46
Occupation: Homemaker, part-time telemarketer
Residence: Roanoke County
Political background: Republican Party activist, member of GOP's State Central Committee, headed George Allen's gubernatorial campaign in Western Virginia in 1993. Later appointed to state board that governs Explore Park; served one term as chairman.
Campaign headquarters:343-8076
TWO YEARS AGO, voters in this district could have it both ways, casting 63 percent of their ballots for George Allen for governor while re-electing House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell with 59 percent. This year, voters are being forced to choose sides.
The contest between Cranwell, who rallied Democratic opposition to defeat much of Allen's budget-cutting agenda, and former Cranwell campaign worker Trixie Averill, has been personalized as nothing less than a referendum on Allen himself.
Not only has Allen campaigned personally for Averill, his Cabinet secretaries have trooped to the district to raise money for her. The governor's chief of staff has even come to check out the disputed speed limit on a country road in Bedford County as a way of showing the influence Averill would have with the administration.
Averill charges that Cranwell has "sold out" the district by opposing Allen's agenda. Voters elected Allen for a reason, she says, and he deserves a legislature that will pass his programs.
Cranwell counters with a lecture on how the Founding Fathers insisted on a system of checks and balances in state government. Besides, he says, he's backed Allen when he thought he was right (on abolishing parole) and even helped Allen out of a jam. When it looked like the state's settlement with the federal retirees whose pensions were illegally taxed appeared to be in jeopardy, Cranwell intervened to work out the deal.
But, Cranwell says, Allen "went too far" with his "extremist" budget-cutting and tax-cutting. Virginia, he insists, is already one of the lowest-taxed states in the country. Cranwell says the state, instead, should be increasing funding for education - especially with an eye toward evening out the unequal funding between rural school systems in Western Virginia and the more affluent districts in Northern Virginia.
16TH HOUSE DISTRICT
The Roanoke precincts of Eureka Park, Fishburn Park, Grandin Court, Highland No. 1, Highland No. 2, Jefferson No. 2, Lee-Hi, Lincoln Terrace, Melrose, Villa Heights, Raleigh Court Nos. 1-5, part of South Roanoke No. 1, part of South Roanoke No. 2, Wasena, part of Williamson Road No. 3; and the Roanoke County precincts of Cave Spring, Garst Mill, Hunting Hills, Mount Vernon, Ogden and Penn Forest.
The breakdown: 20,766 voters in Roanoke; 9,510 voters in Roanoke County.
Del. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum (D)
Age: 57
Occupation: Lawyer
Residence: Roanoke
Political background: First elected in 1979. Chairman of House Claims Committee; and member of House Courts of Justice Committee, which handles legal issues, and House Corporations, Insurance and Banking Committee, which handles business and financial issues.
Campaign headquarters:344-0200
Newell Falkinburg (R)
Age: 55
Occupation: Physician
Residence: Roanoke
Political background: Republican activist. Served on the Bob Goodlatte for Congress finance committee. First try for elected office.
Campaign headquarters:344-3255
DEL. CLIFTON "CHIP" WOODRUM is facing a well-financed challenge to make his 16th year in the General Assembly his last.
Republican challenger Newell Falkinburg, a physician specializing in kidney diseases and high blood pressure, has hinged his campaign on the notion that 16 years in office is too long. He has pledged to serve no more than eight years and vowed to fight for term limits if elected.
But Falkinburg is up against Woodrum's deep Roanoke roots. Woodrum's father was a well-known Roanoke lawyer. His grandfather was a Virginia congressman; his great-grandfather the first elected commonwealth's attorney in Roanoke.
And Woodrum's support is broad-based - from an association of social workers to law enforcement organizations to many business leaders. Woodrum's district is perhaps equally as diverse - from public housing communities to neighborhoods that include many of Roanoke's well-to-do.
Falkinburg, a New Jersey native, is a 21-year Roanoke resident, lured to the area to develop programs in nephrology and dialysis at Roanoke Memorial Hospital. His campaign has been supported largely by the medical community - and by brothers Edward and Peter Via, the heirs to the late Marion Via's fortune, who gave $25,000 each to Falkinburg simply because he was running against Woodrum. That's been enough to make Falkinburg the best-funded Republican House challenger in the state.
Falkinburg has added a bit of spice to an otherwise quiet race. He has called for a repeal of state policy that permits state prison inmates to be paid for work. He challenged Woodrum to a $175,000 fund-raising cap, complaining that he was spending more time soliciting contributions than addressing issues.
He has characterized Woodrum as being soft on crime, pointing to his voting record as evidence.
Woodrum, for the most part, has declined to publicly counter the attack. He has focused instead on his impact as a state legislator, specifically his role during this year's General Assembly in restoring Gov. George Allen's proposed budget cuts.
17th HOUSE DISTRICT
The Roanoke precincts of Garden City, Jefferson No. 1, Jefferson-Riverdale, Monterey, Peters Creek, part of South Roanoke No. 1, part of South Roanoke No. 2, Tinker, Washington Heights, Westside, Williamson Road No. 1, Williamson Road No. 2, part of Williamson Road No. 3, Williamson Road No. 4, Williamson Road No. 5, Williamson Road No. 6; and the Roanoke County precincts of Burlington, Northside, Peters Creek, Plantation and Woodlands.
The breakdown: 18,693 voters in Roanoke; 6,580 voters in Roanoke County.
Del. Vic Thomas (D)
Age: 65
Occupation: Owns neighborhood grocery store on Orange Avenue.
Residence: Roanoke
Political background: First elected in 1973. Now chairman of House Conservation and Natural Resource Committee and member of House Appropriations Committee.
Campaign headquarters:345-4120
Jeff Artis (R)
Age: 38
Occupation: Former high school teacher; publisher of the Black Conservative Newsletter; part-time church custodian.
Residence: Roanoke
Political background: First try for elected office.
Campaign headquarters:342-4526
TWENTY TWO YEARS AGO, Vic Thomas ran one of the most grass-roots campaigns the Roanoke Valley has seen to win his first term in the House of Delegates. Republican candidate Jeff Artis is attempting to use the same method to unseat Thomas.
Artis, who has never run for political office, isn't your typical Republican candidate: he's young, blunt and black. He began to build a following last year when he started publishing the Black Conservative Newsletter.
He's also the first GOP candidate to challenge the proprietor of the EJ Thomas Market in 14 years.
Some say the reason for the dearth of opposition can be traced to Thomas' conservative leanings - in the last General Assembly session he crossed party lines on more closely contested legislation than any other delegate. During his years in the legislature, Thomas has also established himself as a leading advocate on hunting, fishing and other outdoor issues. Furthermore, he exercises quiet influence on state funding as the Roanoke Valley's only member of the House Appropriations Committee, which handles the budget.
Artis, however, charges that Thomas isn't "a real conservative." He argues that Thomas is still soft on crime, didn't support real welfare changes and failed to vote to return lottery funds to localities, which have become familiar Republican themes this year.
Unlike his Republican cohorts, Artis won't be assaulting voters with that message over the airwaves. Instead he's taking his message to the streets in the form of a leaflet, which Thomas counters tells voters only part of the story.
Despite the odds, Artis is confident he can win. But some question whether it's a Roanoke City Council seat that he's really vying for.
21ST SENATE DISTRICT
Roanoke and the Roanoke County precincts of Bonsack, Burlington, Castle Rock, Cave Spring, Clearbrook, Cotton Hill, Garst Mill, Hollins, Hunting Hills, Lindenwood, Mount Pleasant, Mount Vernon, Mountain View, Northside, North Vinton, Oak Grove, Ogden, Penn Forest, Plantation, South Vinton, Woodlands, and Windsor Hills.
The breakdown: 39,349 voters in Roanoke; 34,623 votes in Roanoke County.
John Edwards (D)
Age: 51
Occupation: Lawyer
Residence: Roanoke
Political background: Former federal prosecutor for Western Virginia; unsuccessfully sought Democratic nomination for Congress in 1992; appointed to City Council in 1993; elected vice mayor in 1994.
Campaign headquarters:345-4217
Sen. Brandon Bell (R)
Age: 36
Occupation: Vice president of career counseling service; also owns parcel delivery company.
Residence: Roanoke County.
Political background: First elected in 1991.
Campaign headquarters:345-2355
IN 1991, Republican political novice Brandon Bell stunned Roanoke Valley political gurus by taking an upstart, under-financed bid for the state Senate and knocking off two-term Democratic incumbent Granger Macfarlane.
Ever since then, Democrats have been plotting political revenge. This year, they think they've found the candidate who can unseat Bell: Roanoke Vice Mayor John Edwards.
Calling the tone of this campaign strident would be an understatement. Bell went on the attack early. He's continually blasted Edwards for accepting campaign support from trial lawyers, tried to portray the former federal prosecutor as a liberal who is soft on crime, and pilloried Edwards for accepting money from labor unions. The negative campaign hit a low point in October, with a charge by Bell that Edwards lies.
At the same time, Bell has portrayed himself as a pro-business, pro-tax cut, family values conservative. He's received a 94 percent rating from the Christian Coalition, the right-wing grass-roots organization founded by televangelist Pat Robertson, and a 100 percent rating for supporting Gov. George Allen's legislative agenda.
Edwards, meanwhile, has focused his campaign efforts on Bell's conservatism and the issue he believes is Bell's Achilles heel: support for public education. To some extent, Bell provided the ammunition for those attacks, introducing unsuccessful legislation in the General Assembly supporting school vouchers and charter schools, both of which Edwards opposes.
Edwards has played up his own service in the U.S. Marines, and the fact that he was born and raised in Roanoke. Edwards also went on the attack in October, portraying Bell in a radio ad as a do-little senator more interested in dinners with lobbyist and in fishing than in lawmaking.
23rd SENATE DISTRICT
Bedford, Bedford County, Lynchburg and Amherst County.
The breakdown:25,739 voters in Bedford County; 23,208 voters in Lynchburg; 13,188 voters in Amherst County; 2,900 voters in Bedford.
Barbara Coleman (D)
Age: 44
Occupation: High school government teacher
Residence: Lynchburg
Political background: Democratic activist. First try for elected office.
Campaign headquarters:804-846-7057
Del. Steve Newman (R)
Age: 30
Occupation: Owns direct-mail company
Residence: Lynchburg
Political background: First elected to Lynchburg City Council in 1988 at age 23; elected to House of Delegates in 1991.
Campaign headquarters:804-528-1461
WHEN LONGTIME Democratic state Sen. Elliot Schewel of Lynchburg announced this spring he was retiring, Democrats scrambled to find a candidate and Republicans cackled with glee.
In this largely conservative district, the liberal-leaning Schewel was the exception in local politics.
And after Republican Del. Steve Newman of Lynchburg - young, focused, ambitious and aligned with the Christian Right - announced that he was running for Schewel's seat, many thought it would be his to take.
After all, Newman has built up a considerable financial and political base in Lynchburg. His tough talk on crime and rigid stance against abortion have endeared him to many Lynchburg voters. And some would say he controls its Republican Party, which has held more local seats since he's been in power than in recent memory.
Lynchburg Democrats certainly had a difficult time finding someone to oppose him. They held a nominating convention and no one stepped forward to run.
It wasn't until hours before the deadline to get on the ballot that they unveiled their candidate: Amherst County High School government teacher and Democratic activist Barbara Coleman.
Republicans say her selection is like a football team picking its starting line-up from the bleachers. Democrats defend her, saying voters will be receptive to a teacher in the General Assembly who will defend education spending.
Either way, Coleman admits she's got a hard fight ahead of her, especially when many of Newman's supporters are looking past the Senate to the governor's office - and her campaign has struggled for the funds necessary to put on even a minimal effort.
39TH SENATE DISTRICT
Montgomery County; the Pulaski County precincts of Draper, part of Dublin, Hiwassee, South Pulaski, part of Newbern, Snowville; the Carroll County precincts of Dugspur, Gladeville, Hillsville C, Hillsville D, Hillsville E, Laurel, Sylvatus, Vaughn, Woodlawn D, and Woodlawn E;Galax; Grayson County; and Smyth County.
The breakdown: 30,088 voters in Montgomery County; 13,350 voters in Smyth County; 8,563 voters in Grayson County; 6,643 voters in Carroll County; 6,264 voters in Pulaski County; 2,751 voters in Galax.
Sen. Madison Marye (D)
Age: 69
Occupation: Farmer, retired Army officer
Residence: Shawsville
Political background: First elected in 1973. Now chairman of General Laws Committee and member of Senate Finance Committee.
Campaign headquarters:268-1628
Pat Cupp (R)
Age: 55
Occupation: Real estate and property management
Residence: Blacksburg
Political background: Republican activist; first time on ballot.
Campaign headquarters:951-2141
STATE SEN. MADISON MARYE, D-Shawsville, is facing Republican Pat Cupp, his first challenger since 1983.
Marye, 69, has been in the Senate since a special election in December 1973. He had considered retiring until Republican Gov. George Allen's budget-cutting agenda convinced him to stand one more time to help preserve the slim Democratic majority. Marye is a retired Army major, a former service station owner and a cattle farmer from Shawsville.
Cupp, 55, is making his first run for elected office. The former Montgomery County Republican Party chairman made a tentative foray two years ago, when he failed to win the GOP nomination to run for a House seat. Cupp helped build one company, then left 16 years ago to go into real estate. He and his wife, Sandy, started their own development and property management company in 1983.
From World War II until Marye's election, much of the region covered by the 39th Senate District was a stronghold of the so-called "mountain-valley Republicans," the moderate-leaning politicians who helped reform and rebuild the GOP.
But the barnstorming, populist Marye, derided as "Mad Madison" by his 1973 opponent, won that election and turned back three attempts to unseat him, including 1979 when he won by just nine votes and earned the humorous nickname of "Landslide Marye" from his Senate colleagues.
This time out, Marye is running heavily on the education issue, pointing to his support for Virginia Tech and Radford University in the face of last year's proposed budget cuts. Cupp says Marye is a one-issue candidate, and says he'll work to create jobs, support education and provide "safe streets" by building more prisons.
Marye's seat is one targeted by the state Republican Party, which sees advantage in the fact that Marye hasn't faced an opponent since the 1991 redistricting, which removed Democratic-leaning Radford from the district and added precincts in Pulaski and the remainder of Smyth County.
\ Staff writers Dan Casey, Richard Foster, Betty Hayden, Brian Kelley, Todd Jackson, Kimberly N. Martin, Leslie Taylor and Dwayne Yancey contributed to this report.
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by CNB