
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 10, 1993                   TAG: 9307100240
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ALLEN VOWS TO OPEN OFFICE IN REGION

George Allen made a special pitch to Southwest Virginia voters when he toured the region this week: The Republican nominee promised to open a branch of the governor's office somewhere west of Christiansburg if he's elected.

Allen's from Albemarle County. But during campaign stops in Southwest Virginia this week, Allen played up his faint tie to the region: He was a law clerk in Abingdon in 1977 and 1978 and still buys insurance on his Charlottesville law office from an Abingdon firm.

Allen also accused Democrats of acting "as though the state ends at Roanoke," always a favorite line for candidates from either party.

He said a regional office in Southwest Virginia would give residents there "a direct line" to the governor. Allen declined to specify where he'd locate the regional office, except to say he defines Southwest Virginia as "Christiansburg and west."

Allen said the branch office wouldn't add to state bureaucracy. "We're going to redeploy existing staff."

A spokesman from Democratic candidate Mary Sue Terry, who's from Patrick County, admitted Allen's idea was a good one, but it doesn't go far enough. Tom King said Terry soon would release her own plan for Southwest Virginia, "and it won't just be a satellite office."

Keywords:
POLITICS

by CNB