Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 13, 1995 TAG: 9511130108
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON AND JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Sheriff W.Q. "Quint" Overton likes to compare the final vote tallies of the county's unopposed candidates to get a read on their overall popularity.
He bet with unopposed Blackwater Supervisor Wayne Angell on which candidate would get the most votes in Angell's district.
Winner: Overton.
The sheriff also got more votes in the Rocky Mount District, where incumbent Supervisor Gus Forry was running without opposition.
Of the four unopposed constitutional officers in countywide races, Overton again outdistanced the others. Treasurer Elaine Chitwood was second, Commonwealth's Attorney Cliff Hapgood was third and Commissioner of Revenue Joyce Fuller was fourth.
Not that Overton's success is a surprise.
He's long been known as one of the best-liked county sheriffs in the state.
But Overton still isn't the most popular politician in Franklin County.
The honor goes to state Sen. Virgil Goode.
The Democrat from Rocky Mount got more total votes - and more votes in any of the seven magisterial districts - than all other candidates.
The importance of being Brown
William "Bill" Brown Jr. said he was so busy with his business he didn't have time to campaign. He didn't spend a penny for campaign brochures, signs, mailings or the other things that candidates usually do. He didn't appear at several candidates' forums.
And Brown believes that some voters confused him with Warren Brown, a candidate for the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors in the Catawba District.
Yet he came within 428 votes of winning the Catawba District seat on the School Board. He ran second in the three-way contest that was won by Marion Roark.
That surprised some Catawba voters, including Brown himself.
"I came out better than I thought. I wish I could have had time to campaign," he said.
Roark believes Brown benefited from the name similarity with Warren Brown. She suspects some voters, particularly those who had not closely followed the School Board race, cast their ballots for him because they were thinking of the supervisor candidate.
by CNB