ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 20, 1996 TAG: 9603200086
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
It was supposed to be a friendly mass meeting to nominate a candidate for Circuit Court clerk.
It turned into a battle for control of the Franklin County Republican Party, and it resulted in the overthrow of Carthan Currin, the local party chairman who's widely accepted - even by Democrats - as the man who brought credibility back to a party that was laughed at just a few years ago.
State Del. Allen Dudley, R-Rocky Mount, a Currin supporter who attended the meeting Tuesday, was surprised to see more than 100 people packed into a room in the county courthouse.
In the early 1990s, the party was lucky to get enough people to fill a phone booth. Dudley told the crowd that it seemed to be a new day for county Republicans.
Little did he know what was about to happen.
As part of the evening's business, the party's leader was up for nomination. Currin asked to be re-elected, but Randy Huckaba of Ferrum also was nominated.
And the fun began.
Jerry Johnson and Amanda Davis, two potential Republican candidates who party leaders balked at last year, spoke out more against Currin than in favor of Huckaba.
Johnson had tried last year to get the party's nomination to challenge state Sen. Virgil Goode, but Republicans cringed at some of his far-right beliefs and refused to give him their endorsement.
When he showed up at a mass meeting to ask for the nomination, party leaders ignored him even though he was the only interested candidate.
Currin led the charge Tuesday against Johnson, saying publicly that he did not believe Johnson's platform - including repeal of the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which provided for direct election of senators - met the party's goals.
Johnson stood Tuesday and mentioned his predicament, several times asking if the party chairman should support an uncontested candidate seeking the Republican nomination for elected office.
Davis, who asked for the GOP's support in her unsuccessful run for the county School Board, said she's a longtime conservative who was given the cold shoulder by Currin when she approached him about a Republican endorsement.
Then several of Currin's backers, including Dudley and his wife, Virginia, blasted back.
Dudley told Davis, a member of the religious right, that School Board candidates - by state law - cannot run with political affiliation.
"We tried to explain that to you, Amanda," he said.
Davis said she believes a party can endorse a School Board candidate but can't officially nominate one.
A secret ballot was taken, and, after a 30-minute wait, it was announced that Huckaba had won.
Currin sat stone-faced.
"I had no idea this was going to happen," he said later.
The vote count was not announced, and it turned out several people had voted by proxy, which created another controversy.
Dudley, who with Currin's help became the first Republican from Franklin County in 25 years to be elected to the House of Delegates, stepped outside the courthouse to smoke a cigarette a few minutes after the fireworks.
"Well, I guess we've reached the big time now," he said. "We're all sitting in a big room arguing among ourselves."
Huckaba, 39, a development scientist for Dow Chemical Co., said he's a "strong conservative" who wants to include everyone's views as he leads the party. He said he was not aware of the situations of Johnson and Davis until Tuesday's meeting.
At 9:30 p.m., a clerk candidate remained to be chosen at the meeting. Davis, Ben Pinckard Jr. of Rocky Mount and Daniel Boone of Wirtz were vying for the nomination.
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICSby CNB