Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 8, 1995 TAG: 9511080025
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A8 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Pulaski County's commonwealth's attorney of 16 years, Everett Schockley, was returned to office Tuesday, but not before his Democratic opponent gave him a run for his money.
By a vote of 5,330 to 4,686, Schockley beat Dublin attorney Byron Shankman. But Shankman beat the incumbent in three of the county's 12 precincts, and Schockley didn't pull away for sure until more than halfway through the vote counting.
As his two sons gave their father a congratulatory handshake at Pulaski's Republican headquarters, Schockley commended his opponent for "an effective campaign."
"I haven't had any opposition since 1983," Schockley said. "I congratulate him on an effectively run campaign - he came pretty close."
Schockley, who ran a door-to-door campaign, also "started contacting people I knew [who] had been victims of crime" for whom he prosecuted cases. Those people wrote letters to newspaper editors in support of the commonwealth's attorney.
Shankman, who reportedly spent the evening two blocks away at Democratic headquarters, left shortly after the votes were in and could not be reached for comment.
Asked what the close vote meant for his next term, Schockley said he didn't expect to change anything.
"I am proud of my record, proud of the procedures my office uses and proud of my assistants."
As for Shankman, Schockley said "he's a friend, has been for a number of years, and he will remain a friend. He ran a very effective campaign, obviously, to get as close to a 16-year incumbent as he did."
Keywords:
ELECTION
by CNB