Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 11, 1994 TAG: 9411110061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Early in her campaign for the Roanoke County School Board, Evelyn Ball realized that it would be difficult for her to win because she was not a Vinton native.
She has been active in the Parent-Teacher Association and other school activities for two decades. She believed she had the knowledge and experience for the post. But that was not enough to overcome the hometown advantage of Michael Stovall, the winner in the Vinton District in the county's first School Board election.
"It was hard to try to run against that, with Mike being a hometown boy and all that," said Ball, who was born and grew up in Ohio.
"Being an outsider, there was no way to compete against that."
She's not sure if she might run again. "It might depend on what is going on in my life at the time," she said.
The other losers in the School Board election had mixed reactions to their first campaign for elected office. Some said they might run again, but others were uncertain.
Robert Rouse, who ran for the Vinton District, said he would run again in a heartbeat Rouse said he didn't take it as seriously politically as Stovall.
"I think that some of us ran it as a low-key campaign, but Mike ran it as a serious political campaign and he won," Rouse said.
Stovall received 2,996 votes and carried all four precincts in the district. Ball received 1,347 votes, and Rouse 1,099.
Rouse also believes Stovall benefited because he was born and reared in Vinton. Although Rouse grew up in the Mount Pleasant area in the Vinton District and graduated from William Byrd High School in Vinton, he wasn't identified as closely with Vinton as Stovall.
During the campaign Stovall - an investigator for the Vinton Police Department - stressed his Vinton roots, including his volunteer work for the Vinton Fire Department and other community agencies.
The election generated some hard feelings, especially in the Windsor Hills District, where Tom Leggette appeared to have won an 18-vote victory over Lisa Merrill
Leggette received 2,994 and Merrill 2,976. Wayne Newman received 805, and Richard Cullinan 572.
Merrill has said she will request a recount. The official canvass of the School Board results on Thursday confirmed Tuesday's results.
Newman said he was pleased with his third-place finish, but was upset by the campaign tactics of another candidate whom he would not identify. He said he would have no further comment until he decides whether to file a complaint with state election officials.
Cullinan ran a low-profile campaign that consisted mainly of appearances at campaign forums and no advertisements or signs.
A former School Board member, Cullinan said from the outset that he would run a low-key campaign and offer himself as the only candidate with experience. He was on the board from 1985 to 1989 when board members still were appointed.
Cullinan said he ran because he wanted to keep politics out of the school system. He would have preferred the county keep the appointed system. He's afraid politics will cause bickering and dissent on the board.
Cullinan wasn't surprised by the election results. "As you know, I didn't do that much" during the campaign, he said.
by CNB