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

DATE: TUESDAY, April 4, 1995                   TAG: 9504040090
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SARAH HUNTLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

KOHINKE QUITS GOP OVER `SLAP'

Still fuming over what he calls a "slap in the face" by the Roanoke County GOP, the Catawba Magisterial District supervisor plans to send out faxes today declaring his independence and further denouncing the party that got him elected.

"I consider myself to be an independent for now, but won't rule out the possibility of joining the Democrats in the future," Kohinke said. "Contrary to statements recently made by the Roanoke County GOP chairman, I am a `team player.' I've probably just been on the wrong team."

Kohinke's ongoing feud with the Republicans hit its peak two weeks ago, when the first-term supervisor gave up his re-election bid because the party refused to hold a primary to choose its candidate.

Kohinke had called for a primary because he was concerned that newcomer Warren Brown Jr., who is seeking the party's nomination, would be able to stack a mass meeting.

By law, political parties are free to choose how they select their candidates at the local level, unless the incumbent was chosen in a primary in the previous election.

After the party's leaders decided to select their candidate through a mass meeting, Kohinke dropped out of the race.

Now, he has taken that a step further.

"If this sounds strange, I find it no stranger than the fact that my former party is intent on displacing me - a top-performing, highly qualified, highly motivated incumbent - in favor of a marginally qualified ideologue who has only a token interest in county government," Kohinke said Monday.

The party will respect Kohinke's decision to leave.

"If that's the way he feels, we wish him Godspeed in whatever direction he chooses," county GOP Chairman Hugh Key said. "But he was not pushed out of the party. It was his choice to go."

Key said recent national and state victories have proven that voters want candidates with strong convictions and a record of loyalty to Republican ideals.

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POLITICS