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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 8, 1995                   TAG: 9511080023
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                 LENGTH: Medium

TEACHER VOTES HELP HOPKINS

Strong teacher support ensured victory for a Virginia Tech professor in the Montgomery County School Board race.

In District G, challenger Wat Hopkins defeated incumbent Peggy Arrington to represent the densely populated Blacksburg area.

Hopkins, a communications professor, depicted himself as the teacher's candidate and criticized the board for failing to improve employee morale.

"One thing I learned going door-to-door was that people respect teachers," he said Tuesday night. "So when [teachers] told people to vote for me, that said a lot about the results."

In Districts F, E and B, final results were not available, though it appeared three candidates endorsed by the county education association's political action committee would be victorious.

With only one precinct reporting, Mike Smith appeared to be leading the three-way race in District E, which covers part of Blacksburg and the McCoy area. Smith was running against fellow arsenal worker Victor Sheppard and local Christian Coalition chairman Jack LeDoux.

A two-term president of the Radford Army Ammunition Plant union, Smith had actively campaigned for the seat by posting signs and even bringing his two children along for door-to-door visits.

In the race for District B, which includes parts of Christiansburg and the Ellett Valley, Bernard Jortner was in the lead over Straight Street Christian teen center director Bob Anderson and Oscar Williams, director of Virginia Tech's Institute for Youth and Minority Entrepreneurship.

Jortner, a professor of pathology at Virginia Tech, said schools need to invest more in teachers and technology.

Another Tech professor, Jim Klagge, was in the lead for District F. While campaigning, Klagge said he planned to improve the "bad reputation" the board has developed when it comes to community involvement and teacher morale.

Keywords:
ELECTION