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

DATE: FRIDAY, December 2, 1994                   TAG: 9412020060
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: SPOTSYLVANIA                                 LENGTH: Medium

VOTERS FEW, FAR BETWEEN FOR TRAVELIN' WRITE-IN MAN

William O. Pratt drove more than 15,000 miles across Virginia, often sleeping in his pickup truck, during his write-in bid to become the state's next U.S. senator.

He got 36 votes for his trouble, just 16 more than fellow write-in candidate Mickey Mouse.

Pratt spoke with some 35,000 Virginians along the campaign trail, developing laryngitis as a result. He said the quest was worth it.

``I'm not disgruntled,'' Pratt said after learning that a state Board of Elections certification showed he finished well short of his goal of 1,500 votes.

``At least I didn't have to vote for either of the other two nincompoops,'' Pratt, a retired 60-year-old Navy engineer said of Democratic Sen. Charles Robb and his Republican challenger, Oliver North.

Pratt, a Republican who lives in Spotsylvania County, said he undertook his quixotic effort in July because of questions about the character of the two party candidates. North was convicted of lying to Congress about his role in the Iran-Contra scandal and Robb admitted extramarital indiscretions with a former beauty queen.

Pratt filed the necessary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission and hit the road, short on cash but long on ambition.

``It was a very interesting experience,'' he said. ``I learned a great deal about my state, the beauty of it.''

Voters treated him cordially in the rural areas, but more skeptically in the cities. He said folks in communities like Big Stone Gap, Broadway and Rocky Mount believe they are alternately ignored and threatened by the Washington bureaucracy. They want secure jobs and a government that isn't spending the country into the ground, he said.

``The citizens themselves are very, very upset,'' he said.

But obviously not upset enough to go against the mainstream. Robb - the winner - and North each got more than 1 million votes.

Pratt didn't even lead the write-in category. That honor went to Alexandria resident Dennis L. Bybee, whose radio ad, fax and roadside sign campaign produced 73 votes.

Pratt also failed to outpoll ``none of the above,'' the choice of 63 voters.

But Pratt can take comfort in at least one outcome. Unlike North, who raised more than $20 million, Pratt spent a comparatively paltry $6,134 of his own money, Federal Election Commission figures show.

Pratt's not ruling out a future run for office.

``If they nominate two other idiots, I'd probably try to get on the ballot,'' he said.

For now, he's looking for a job.

``I wouldn't want to be the lazy man's candidate.''