THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 8, 1996 TAG: 9605080420
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10D EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Three incumbents, a college professor and a dentist were elected Tuesday to fill five seats in the city's first direct School Board election.
The winners: incumbents James E. Bridgeford, board vice chairman Lawrence W. I'Anson Jr. and Louise G. ``Sis'' Walden; and newcomers David I. Joyner, a professor of education at Old Dominion University, and dentist Elizabeth Daniels.
The three incumbents combined grabbed 28 percent of all votes cast for School Board candidates.
Running on a four-person ``biracial ticket,'' they said they wanted to show city residents that people of different races and backgrounds can work together for the good of the entire school district.
They also weighed in with 12 total years on the board.
``I'm pleased to see people have some faith in incumbents - whether they're appointed or elected,'' Walden said Tuesday night.
Challenger Douglas N. Eames, an engineering and management services consultant, was the only unsuccessful member of the ticket.
Those elected Tuesday will begin their four-year terms in July.
The debut election attracted 16 candidates, ranging from retirees to a supporter of political maverick Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr.
They ran bare-bones campaigns, although there was one big spender.
Daniels' $3,786 in campaign expenses accounted for 42 percent of the $9,101 that 11 board candidates reported spending, according to reports filed late last month.
The spending paid off, Daniels said. With almost 14 percent of all votes cast, she garnered more than any other board candidate: 9,752.
``You have to contact the voters, which is difficult and always expensive when you're talking about contacting a large number of people,'' she said Tuesday night.
Despite differing views on the caliber of those seeking board seats and on the candidates' willingness to tackle tough issues on the campaign trail, most residents interviewed at the polls Tuesday said the election was focused on issues.
``You know how politicians usually get out and talk about each other. I was glad they didn't do that,'' Churchland resident Felicia Scales said.
``I think they kept it positive.''
City residents voted 4-to-1 in 1994 to switch from an appointed to an elected board. Before Tuesday's election, City Council members appointed residents to the nine-member board.
B. Keith Nance Sr., president of the Park Manor Civic Club, and Karen S. Jordan, president of the Simonsdale Civic Club, spearheaded the elected-board petition drive almost four years ago.
Perhaps one of the biggest surprises Tuesday was voters' rejection of their candidacies.
Jordan got 6 percent of the vote; Nance, 5 percent.
Neither seemed surprised by the outcomes.
``Some people said that we were too political, that we had a political agenda,'' Jordan said. ``We don't.''
But even in defeat, both said they contributed something of value to the city.
``The people won tonight,'' Nance said, ``because they got to make a choice.'' MEMO: Staff writer Lorraine Eaton contributed to this report.
KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH SCHOOL BOARD RACE ELECTION RESULTS by CNB