Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 11, 1995 TAG: 9505110066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Republican state Senate candidate Jerry Johnson believes the United States as we know it will cease to exist by the year 2000.
"I think there's going to be an economic collapse," he said Wednesday.
Johnson said he believes widespread riots also will occur, and if one happens to break out in his neighborhood, he said he's prepared.
He owns about 20 guns and said he wouldn't hesitate to use them if his rights were violated.
"But that doesn't mean I'm going to go out and shoot somebody," said Johnson, a Franklin County electrician who lives in Union Hall.
Johnson made the remarks after being asked by a reporter about his views and how they compare to those embraced by state militia groups that have come under scrutiny since the Oklahoma City bombing.
The Republican Party chairman in Franklin County said Johnson's comments are just a couple of more reasons why he's not qualified to be a state senator.
"His views are way outside the mainstream," said Carthan Currin. "The people in the district are thinking about their kids and education and economic development. They're not thinking about arming themselves to the teeth."
Johnson announced in March that he wants the party's nomination to challenge Sen. Virgil Goode, D-Rocky Mount, whose district includes Franklin, Floyd, Henry and Patrick counties, a section of Carroll County and the city of Martinsville.
The Republicans will hold a mass meeting Saturday to nominate - or not nominate - a candidate. Johnson is the only announced candidate for the nomination.
The meeting is set for 11 a.m. in Patrick County at the Reynolds Homestead in Critz.
Johnson said Wednesday that he wasn't told about the meeting, and only learned that it had been scheduled upon asking the Floyd County Republican chairman.
Currin said he would have been glad to inform Johnson about the meeting, but "I haven't seen him, and I haven't talked to him."
Johnson, 56, is a strict constitutionalist.
He believes the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution - allowing for the popular election of U.S. senators - should be repealed in favor of appointments by state legislatures.
"The states should control the federal government, and local government should control the states," he said at his March announcement.
He is against government "giveaway" programs such as welfare - an example of Johnson's bigger belief that the federal government is too big for its own good.
Johnson, who recently returned from a missionary trip to Costa Rica, said: "I've been praying and praying about this. If they don't give me the nomination, then I'm going to believe that God doesn't want me in politics."
Currin said he hopes the party simply ignores Johnson and nominates no one.
But, Currin acknowledged, since the nominee will be chosen in a mass meeting, that Johnson could bring enough supporters to win the party's nod.
Johnson lashed out Wednesday at the Republican party leaders - or "hierarchy," as he called them.
"They're a bunch of snobs," he said. "I sweat for a living. That's not good enough for them."
So what are his plans for Saturday's meeting?
Johnson said he will attend the meeting and ask to speak. From there, he said, the chips will fall where they may.
He says he's disgusted by the situation but is trying to stay optimistic.
"It's going to hurt the Republican Party more if they don't nominate me," he said.
Johnson said that if he's denied the nomination, he won't be paying his Republican party dues anymore.
"I'm going to wash my hands of them," he said.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB