Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 3, 1993 TAG: 9311030426
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
With 26 of 26 precincts reporting:
Howard Packett (D) 7,024 (34 percent)
Morgan Griffith (R) 13,849 (66 percent)
The surprise here isn't that Morgan Griffith won the right to succeed retiring Del. Steve Agee, R-Salem.
This district leaned Republican during the 11 years Agee represented it, and in the latest redistricting, Democrats made it even more Republican by adding GOP precincts in Montgomery County that once belonged to Del. Joan Munford, D-Blacksburg.
The surprise, instead, is the ease with which Griffith dispatched Howard Packett in the district's key battleground - Salem.
Both candidates hailed from Salem; Griffith is a 35-year-old lawyer, Packett a 61-year-old advertising agency president.
But Packett also is a third-term Salem city councilman, and he had hoped his service on council would enable him to roll up a big margin in the city to counter the expected Republican majorities in rural Montgomery County and suburban Roanoke County.
It didn't work out that way. Griffith swept every precinct in Salem, beating Packett in the city almost 2 to 1. In Roanoke County, Griffith's tally scraped the 68 percent mark.
Griffith was aided by several factors.
The Republican tide across the state worked in his favor. Exit interviews with voters in Salem suggested that many Griffith voters had cast a straight ticket. "I'm just a Republican," explained Linda Shepherd, who voted at the North Salem No. 2 precinct.
Others liked the energy Griffith displayed, especially in contrast to the low-key Packett. "He's a young blood," said E.R. Sargent, who cast his ballot at North Salem No. 1. "He had a bit more enthusiasm," said Avery Lane, another North Salem No. 1 voter.
But two issues may have hurt Packett's campaign more than others. His support for a five-day waiting period for buying handguns turned off some traditionally Democratic voters, such as Sargent. "I didn't like the flier Packett sent out that was negative about guns," Sargent said. "I think Mary Sue Terry missed it, too."
Griffith also spent much of the campaign blasting Packett's council record, calling him a do-nothing councilman under the thumb of Mayor Jim Taliaferro. Some voters responded. "Mostly, I voted against Packett," Lane said, "because he's been on City Council too long."
Still other voters said Packett's last-minute attack mailings against Griffith backfired. "It was really hard, since I know both of them," said one woman who voted at North Salem No. 2. "I didn't like some of the letters Packett sent out with Griffith's picture . . . I was leaning to Packett, but I ended up voting for Griffith."
Griffith agreed. "I think we would have won anyway, but I think that helped pile on the numbers," he said.
Keywords:
ELECTION
by CNB