Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 8, 1995 TAG: 9511080043
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
\ With a huge Democratic turnout by city voters, Roanoke Vice Mayor John Edwards staged an overwhelming upset Tuesday, unseating Republican incumbent Brandon Bell in a fierce contest for the state Senate seat representing Roanoke and most of Roanoke County.
Edwards, a mild-mannered and respected local attorney, beat Bell by 5,360 votes in Roanoke. His huge margins of victory in black precincts overcame the 1,351-vote advantage Bell posted in the county.
Edwards' surprisingly strong win gave valley Democrats a clean sweep in local General Assembly races. It also means he'll have to resign from City Council. Council will make an interim appointment to fill the seat until July 1. Voters will choose his replacement in May.
Appearing giddy with excitement while he claimed victory at a Democratic celebration at the Radisson Patrick Henry Hotel downtown, Edwards thanked and hugged everybody in sight as a crowd of supporters thundered, "We want John!''
He chalked up the win to a positive campaign in which he stressed education as the dominant issue and made the case that he would be a more effective advocate for the Roanoke Valley.
"I cannot be more honored than to go down to Richmond to work with" Dels. Vic Thomas, Clifton "Chip" Woodrum and Richard Cranwell, Edwards said. "This team is going to be effective for the Roanoke Valley."
Meanwhile, a tearful Bell conceded defeat to a somber crowd of GOP partisans during a gathering at the Days Inn on Plantation Road in Hollins.
"Well, it looks like the 21st Senatorial District had a little difficulty making up its mind," Bell said, his voice cracking as he thanked his wife and father for the their help in the campaign.
"We knew it was an uphill task," Bell said. "Some of you out there might have thought ... that this was going to be one that was in the bag ... [but] John Edwards was an extremely worthy opponent."
Bell campaigned on a variety of issues on which GOP polls suggested Democrats were vulnerable: tougher criminal penalties for young offenders; support for conservative and "family values"; and a promise to distribute lottery proceeds to localities.
Bell attacked Edwards for being a trial lawyer and soliciting support from trial lawyers across the state.
Edwards, meanwhile, jumped on education as an issue in early September and rode it all through the campaign.
It proved to be a smart strategy. General Assembly Democrats have been predicting for months that Bell's support for controversial educational experiments such as school vouchers and charter schools would cost him dearly at the polls.
Interviews with voters in the city and county Tuesday suggested the pros were right.
"Education. That's the No. 1 factor," said Lynwood Welcher, who voted at the city fire station on 12th Street Northwest. "People are dumb enough as it is."
"Education ... was the big decision-maker for me," said county resident Beth Carpenter after she voted at the library on Electric Road. "The issue of charter schools and where that money goes is very important to me. To me, the Democrats are the ones who came through. I haven't always voted Democratic."
The campaign also was marked by an onslaught of radio, television and direct-mail advertising in which Bell hit Edwards hard, seemingly making the Roanoke vice-mayor the dominant campaign issue.
In one radio ad, Bell as much as called Edwards a liar, an unprecedented slur in valley political campaigns.
Democrats had gleefully predicted that tactic and others would backfire on the senator. Even some Republicans ruefully agreed.
"The bottom line is the Republicans' negatives killed them," Woodrum campaign manager Baker Ellett confidently predicted Tuesday before the votes were even counted.
"Bell was going negative to the very end," said former city Republican Chairman Gilbert Butler. "And usually an incumbent finishes up positive." Butler said the volume of negative advertising by Bell was an early warning sign he was in trouble.
The negative campaign also bothered some voters.
"I did not vote for Brandon Bell, on account of the things he said that were not true," said Imogene Erickson, of Vinton. "Mr. Edwards, he just appealed to me as an honest person."
Staff writers Leslie Taylor, Kimberly N. Martin and Dwayne Yancey contributed to this report.
Keywords:
ELECTION
by CNB