Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 26, 1993 TAG: 9303260215
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
FINNEY TO RETIRE FROM ASSEMBLY
Del. Willard Finney, D-Rocky Mount, announced Thursday he's retiring from the General Assembly after 11 years."Every year, your workload increases," he said. "I found I couldn't give proper time to my law practice short of jumping back and forth like a rabbit."
Finney is the fourth Western Virginia delegate to say he won't be running again this fall. The others are Steve Agee, R-Salem; Joan Munford, D-Blacksburg; and Ford Quillen, D-Gate City.
Finney - who represents most of Franklin County, Floyd County, the Moneta precinct in Bedford County and part of Pittsylvania County - was first elected in 1982 to succeed a retiring Democrat.
Finney, whose grandfather and father also served in the General Assembly, was a low-profile legislator during his years in Richmond.
One of the few times when he did enter a statewide controversy was in 1988, when he sponsored two bills designed to give local school systems more control over family life education. Both were killed in committee.
Finney said some of his proudest moments in Richmond came from his work on the House Agriculture Committee, especially when it came to looking out for the interests of tobacco farmers.
"I'm glad I've been able from time to time to help with some legislation that has to do with farming," Finney said. "I don't know [for] how much longer, but in Richmond we've held the line on extra taxes on cigarettes."
Finney also said he was proud of his support for funding to widen U.S. 58, which runs from Virginia Beach to the Cumberland Gap. "In the long run, that'll mean a lot to Southside and Southwest Virginia," he said.
He also cited his chairmanship of a council at Virginia Western Community College that deals with worker training issues: "I think we've made some progress there."
Finney rarely drew election opponents in what had been a staunchly Democratic region, but the most recent redistricting stripped some key Democratic precincts from the district and added Republican-leaning ones. Partly as a result, in 1991 Finney had had to beat back an unexpectedly stiff challenge by Republican Ken Rush.
When Finney was slow to respond to the challenge, Franklin County Democrats launched a withering attack against Rush in the final two weeks of the campaign. Finney won with 52.5 percent of the vote.
Rush has since moved out of the district, but Floyd County Republican Chairman Chris Nolen on Thursday said several other Republicans had been thinking of running before Finney announced his retirement.
In the Democratic camp, Rocky Mount lawyer Eric Ferguson has been mentioned as a possible successor. Finney said other Democrats may be interested, as well.
Keywords:
POLITICS
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.