Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 26, 1995 TAG: 9504260088
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
He's Claude Whitehead, not Claude Whitehurst, and he hopes voters will know the difference when they go to the polls in November.
Whitehead, a Pittsylvania County dentist and tobacco farmer, announced Tuesday in front of the Franklin County Courthouse that he's seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Del. Allen Dudley, R-Rocky Mount.
On Monday, Jim Echols, who is assisting Whitehead, sent out a news release to alert the media about Tuesday's announcement. The release began: "Claude S. Whitehurst ..."
Echols, who works for House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Roanoke County, quickly corrected the error and faxed new releases.
"I know a Claude Whitehurst who lives in Texas," Echols said with a laugh after Whitehead's speech Tuesday morning.
But the faux pas symbolizes what many Republicans and Democrats believe will be the most important factor in the race: whether Whitehead, whose name is unfamiliar to a large segment of Franklin County voters, can run a campaign that captures their attention.
One of them, Franklin County Sheriff's Capt. Billy Overton, was in the crowd of about 20 longtime county Democrats who turned out for Whitehead's announcement.
Overton, who was considered the leading candidate to challenge Dudley until he removed his name from consideration in February, said he hasn't talked with Whitehead and doesn't know much about him. Ditto for Billy Overton's father, county Sheriff W.Q. "Quint" Overton, one of the leading figures in the county's Democratic Party.
The 9th District includes all of Floyd County, most of Franklin County, a slice of Pittsylvania County and the Moneta precinct in Bedford County. Close to 60 percent of the district's voters live in Franklin County.
Whitehead said it's common sense that a candidate has to get a sizable chunk of Franklin County votes to win, and he plans to campaign accordingly.
He also said his campaign will be based in Rocky Mount.
Whitehead was introduced Tuesday by former 9th District Del. Willard Finney, who was introduced by the county's Democratic Party chairman, Eric Ferguson.
Ferguson set the tone that is expected to dominate this year's elections across the state as Republicans and Democrats battle for majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly.
"It's time to send Democrats to Richmond," he bellowed, as the crowd applauded.
Ferguson said Dudley, a Franklin County banker, proved during his first term in the legislature that he's nothing more than a soldier in Gov. George Allen's army.
Whitehead criticized Dudley, too.
Calling himself a "conservative Virginian," Whitehead said Virginia's future is being bargained off by the Allen administration for short-term political gain - a philosophy he said Dudley has embraced.
"Meager, politically inspired" tax cuts were offered by the governor's administration at the same time it was proposing cuts to higher education, he said.
"This amounts to nothing more than buying tax cuts with our children's money," Whitehead said. "Long-term debt may be in the best interests of Allen Dudley's investment-banking friends, but it's not in the best interest of the common folk in our area."
Whitehead, 56, hopes to tap his main tie to Franklin County - farming. He is a member of the Pittsylvania County Farm Bureau, the Virginia Agricultural Growers Association and serves on the board of directors of the Concerned Friends of Tobacco.
He also is a member of the Danville Dental Society and the Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce.
Whitehead is a former chairman of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors, and served as the county's interim administrator for five months in 1993.
He sought the Democratic nomination for the 5th District congressional seat in 1988, but lost to L.F. Payne, who still holds the seat.
Whitehead lives and farms near Chatham, where his dental office is.
The Whitehead family roots run deep in Pittsylvania County - the family began farming there in 1750, he said.
Whitehead and his wife, Dixie, have three children: Claude III, an assistant commonwealth's attorney for the city of Petersburg; Hunt, a student at T.C. Williams School of Law in Richmond; and Catherine, a junior at the University of Richmond.
As a way for Franklin County Democrats to meet Whitehead, Ferguson said the party will hold a "Get to Know Claude Night" on May 18. The event is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Longwood Restaurant on U.S. 220 near Rocky Mount.
Keywords:
POLITICS
Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.