ROANOKE TIMES 

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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 8, 1995                   TAG: 9511080022
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                 LENGTH: Medium

INCUMBENTS WIN RE-ELECTION

The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors race brought few surprises, with the re-election of three incumbents in four races.

Incumbents Nick Rush, a Republican, and Democrats Joe Gorman and Ira Long had solid wins in all of their precincts. Democrat Mary Biggs ran unopposed for the District F supervisor's seat left vacant by Republican Larry Linkous in the only other race up for grabs this year.

In one of the county's most hotly contested races, Democrat Nancy Miller defeated Republican Helen St. Clair to replace Miller's mentor, Robertine Jordan, as the county's new commissioner of revenue.

The most watched of the supervisors' races, between Rush and Democratic challenger Robert Goncz, left Rush with a sound majority of about 60 percent.

"I thought I've done a good job over the past four years, and I really let my record campaign for me," said Rush, 27, a first-term supervisor whose district includes much of Christiansburg, the Peppers Ferry Road area and the Ellett Valley.

Joe Gorman, a first-term Democrat who represents part of Blacksburg, said he was anticipating a victory against political newcomer Republican Curtis Cox and is now looking ahead to continuing his work on the board.

"(I'll) keep on promoting better government in Montgomery County," said Gorman, 66, who retired from Hercules Aerospace Co. at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant.

Democrat Ira Long, 73, will serve a fifth term on the board in District E, which includes the Prices Fork/McCoy area, after beating challenger Richard Gordon, a 60-year-old retiree from the U.S. Army and Montgomery County Sheriff's office.

In the commissioner of revenue race, Democrat Miller defeated St. Clair after a highly political battle to replace 44-year incumbent Robertine Jordan.

She led St. Clair in all 20 voting precincts. Both women have worked in Montgomery County government for more than a decade.

"I could not have done this had it not been for all the help I've had," said Miller, 59.

Republican Ellis Meredith, 61, ran unopposed for the second time in his seven terms as Montgomery County treasurer.

Keywords:
ELECTION 


 by CNB