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

DATE: THURSDAY, May 5, 1994                   TAG: 9405050178
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

ROBERTSON'S SCHOOL BOARD SLATE REBUFFED

Pat Robertson, the leader of a movement to elect evangelical Christians to local government posts throughout the country, suffered a setback on Tuesday when all five of his candidates lost a school board election in his hometown, Virginia Beach.

Voters in Virginia Beach rejected candidates backed by Robertson, and instead elected a slate endorsed by the Virginia Beach Education Association, the teachers' organization.

``The rumor was that we were a right-wing takeover,'' said Edward Kreyling Jr., a retired railroad executive who led the losing group, which ran under the name Kids First. ``Christians are being persecuted. Calling someone a religious person in politics these days is not a compliment.''

Robertson, the television evangelist whose ``700 Club'' talk show is broadcast from the Virginia Beach studios of his Christian Broadcasting Network, ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for president in 1988. The next year he changed tactics and founded the Christian Coalition, which promotes and trains candidates for boards of supervisors and town councils.

Since then, the group has distributed millions of leaflets and has helped place candidates on school boards from San Diego County to New York City.

People active in causes of many stripes had given a high priority to this week's School Board elections, the first to be held in Virginia.

by CNB