DATE: Wednesday, October 29, 1997           TAG: 9710290643

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Decision '97 

SOURCE: BY TERRI WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:  127 lines

MUD-SLINGING BLURS DIFFERENCES BETWEEN JOANNOU, EVANS IN 79TH

In the race for the 79th House District, there are substantial differences between Democrat Johnny S. Joannou and Republican D.R. ``Dan'' Evans - but voters may be hard put to find them amid all the mud being slung.

Evans, a businessman who has never held elective office, supports giving localities the option of funding charter schools. He wants to eliminate the personal property taxes on cars and trucks and is pro-life.

Former state legislator Joannou, who calls himself a fiscal conservative, also supports cutting taxes. But Joannou said he wouldn't immediately abolish the car tax; he'd rather study revenues and expenditures before making such a move. He also opposes charter schools and is pro-choice.

The two men are battling for the right to represent the mostly working-class district, which includes much of Portsmouth, small parts of the Western Branch section of Chesapeake, and Suffolk. The seat was formerly held by William H. ``Billy'' Moore, a Democrat who resigned to take a Portsmouth judgeship.

The state Republican Party has targeted this race as one where the Republicans could gain a formerly Democratic seat.

The GOP needs to pick up four seats to take control of the General Assembly. The party's joint caucus contributed $15,000 to Evans' campaign through Oct. 1, and a host of top party stars has visited Portsmouth to stump for Evans.

At a recent fund raiser at a local church's gymnasium for Evans, the walls were decorated with red, white and blue balloons and streamers.

While supporters ate sub sandwiches and drank fruit punch, Republican gubernatorial candidate James S. Gilmore III delivered his endorsement. At another Evans' rally, Oliver North showed up to lend support.

Evans, a Chesapeake native who is president of a Portsmouth-based electrical business, touts family values in his campaign speeches. His wife, Susan, was the past director of their church's children's school.

Although he is religious, Evans said, he won't be led by some of the more conservative Christian factions of the Republican Party.

A Joannou fund raiser at the Ambassador's Club also had a high-power flavor.

There, supporters ate grilled oysters, fried chicken and drank sodas and beer while several legislators who once served with Joannou in the House of Delegates sang his praises. On hand was a Who's Who among Virginia Democrats, including Congressmen Robert C. Scott, Virgil Goode and Norman Sisisky.

Joannou, a lawyer with the Portsmouth firm Joannou, Knowles and Clark, touts his relationships with Scott, Goode and Thomas W. Moss Jr., Speaker of the House of Delegates.

Joannou tells voters they should elect him because of his experience in the Assembly - he represented the 79th District from 1976 to 1984 and later served eight years in the state Senate. That experience would enable him to return more money to the district, he argues.

``I've built relationships up. I've got good relationships with Republicans as well as Democrats,'' said Joannou.

The campaign turned nasty early, when several campaign signs from both camps were stolen or damaged. Each side blamed the other for the vandalism.

During a campaign forum in Chesapeake, a heated verbal exchange between Joannou and Evans erupted after a citizen asked Joannou about a case in which a criminal trial was postponed because Joannou, who was one of the defense attorneys, asked for delays.

Joannou told the citizen that, as a legislator, he had the right to seek delays if he had to be in Richmond on General Assembly business, noting that the client was later convicted and sentenced.

But as Joannou returned to his seat, he said, he didn't want to have to bring Evans' family legal problems into the race.

Evans did not hear the remark, but, asked about it later, said that his son, Dan Jr., is in jail in Chesapeake for stealing.

``The reason my son is in jail,'' Evans said, ``is because I put him in jail. It's tough love. I'm not only tough on other people's kids when it comes to crime, but I'm tough on my own.''

During the same forum, several citizens asked Joannou why he does not support charter schools and vouchers, since he sends his daughter to a private Norfolk school.

Joannou answered that he wants all children to have the same quality education as his daughter, but not at taxpayer expense.

``I'm fortunate that I can send my child there,'' said Joannou. ``It's a matter of choice. Every child should have the best education offered to them.''

This is Evans' second bid for the seat. He ran unsuccessfully in 1995 against Moore. He had raised more than twice as much money as Joannou through Oct. 1, the last date for which information is available. Evans had a total of $76,443.

Joannou had raised $34,066, with the Friends of Tom Moss giving $6,000.

Although Evans doesn't have political experience, he said it's time for a change. He says that he has been active in his community and notes that he was a member of a White House panel that studied small businesses in 1995.

``I think our founding fathers wanted a citizen-driven legislature,'' said Evans. ``You shouldn't have to be a career politician to get to Richmond.''

``He's a family man,'' James M. Quash, chairman of the Portsmouth Republican Party, said of Evans. ``People want people of integrity. We're going to see a swing in that direction.''

Quash noted that Joannou had been indicted in 1985 and that a former employee was suing Joannou.

In 1985, a federal jury cleared Joannou and former state Sen. Willard S. Moody of charges evolving from an alleged speedometer calibration scam.

Joannou, who had always proclaimed his innocence, recalled the trial as one of the toughest experiences in his life. Shortly afterward, he lost his mother to Alzheimer's disease, and his father to Lou Gehrig's disease.

Joannou has contended that the lawsuit filed by the former employee was politically motivated.

Cheri L. Newman, a former legal secretary in Joannou's law firm, filed suit last year, charging that Joannou fired her because she was pregnant. Joannou has said he wasn't served papers until he filed for the 79th District seat.

The suit is pending. But Newman is not waiting for her day in court. She has been traveling around Hampton Roads distributing fliers urging people not to vote for Joannou. She has even gone to Joannou fund raisers, driving a truck with a sign that asks voters not to support him.

As the campaign winds down, both camps have turned to negative mailings.

Some of Joannou's mailings contend that Evans would weaken public schools by siphoning off state money to support charter schools and to provide tax breaks to those who send their children to private schools.

Evans has sent out fliers stating that ``The Taxman'' Joannou voted to raise taxes numerous times during his time in the General Assembly. Another depicts Joannou as soft on drunken drivers. ``Johnny Joannou,'' the flier says, ``votes time and again to WEAKEN our drunk driving laws.'' MEMO: Staff writer Toni Whitt contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: THE 79TH HOUSE DISTRICT

GRAPHIC

[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]

Evans

Joannou KEYWORDS: CANDIDATES HOUSE OF DELAGATES

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