Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 3, 1993 TAG: 9311030425
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
With 31 of 31 precincts reporting.
Dick Cranwell (D-Incumbent) 12,966 (59 percent)
Bud Brumitt (R) 9,011 (41 percent)
House Majority Leader Dick Cranwell sent a convincing message Tuesday to Republicans who thought he might be vulnerable after 12 years without opposition.
Cranwell - swimming against a stiff GOP tide statewide - carried 26 of 31 precincts to defeat Republican Bud Brumitt. Cranwell won a huge majority in his home base of Vinton, where people remembered favors that he has done during his 21 years in the House of Delegates.
Voters interviewed outside polls gave Cranwell credit for keeping a regional landfill out of eastern Roanoke County, holding annexation-minded Roanoke at bay and responding to constituent concerns.
People who know Cranwell best - many voters said they were "personal friends" - were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt when they read news accounts of his past dealings with former business partner, convicted Roanoke tax evader Frank Selbe.
"I must admit it gave me some concern, but I voted for him," said Rita Gilley, a registered nurse who voted at the Vinton Senior Citizens Center. "I think he has worked hard for this area."
Cranwell's deep roots in the community cut a sharp contrast to Brumitt, a retired engineer who moved to Botetourt County from Pennsylvania less than two years ago.
Brumitt, who spent most of the campaign attacking Cranwell's ethics, failed to articulate his own agenda or explain what the district had to gain by giving up one of the legislature's most-senior members.
"We played by the rules and we broke no laws," Cranwell told supporters gathered for a victory celebration at the LancerLot. "What we proved is that good guys can finish first."
Cranwell raised more than $150,000, much of it from lobbyists and political action committees based in Richmond, to drive home his message that his seniority was vital to Southwest Virginia.
It was a message that rang true for many.
"I tell people that Dick Cranwell is not a perfect man, but he's the best apple in the bushel," said Andrew DeMaury, a retiree who voted at William Byrd High School.
"Without him, when the big boys from Northern Virginia and Tidewater get through with us, we won't have anything left except crumbs from their table."
Brumitt called it an "absolute moral victory" to carry Botetourt County and get 41 percent of the vote overall against a well-financed incumbent like Cranwell.
Keywords:
ELECTION
by CNB