THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, August 9, 1994                TAG: 9408090379
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: COROLLA                            LENGTH: Medium:   52 lines

FORMER AGRICULTURE SECRETARY TO HELP CAMPAIGN FOR SCHROTE

Republicans will send in Earl L. Butz, secretary of agriculture for President Richard Nixon, on Aug. 26 and 27 to urge farmers and other voters to support John E. Schrote of Corolla, the GOP candidate for the 1st North Carolina House District.

Butz, now dean emeritus of Purdue University's School of Agriculture, will speak for Schrote during at least two events in the 1st North Carolina House election race, GOP spokesmen said Monday.

``We cannot find that any candidate for state representative in North Carolina has ever had a man of Secretary Butz's stature come in to campaign. This is a tribute to John Schrote's ability to gain national and statewide attention,'' said Frankie Meads, chairman of the Pasquotank County Republican Party.

Schrote was a special assistant to Butz during the Nixon administration and later joined President Reagan's White House staff as deputy director of personnel. Schrote also served as assistant secretary of the interior in the Bush administration.

Jimmy Winslow, owner-operator of Tanglewood Farms, will be chairman for the Butz events.

``We're planning a fund-raiser and dinner for the Schrote campaign on Friday, Aug. 26., and other activities for Saturday, Aug. 27,'' Winslow said. He said details are being completed this week.

In what is likely to become an unusually strenuous political race, Schrote is running against Pasquotank County Commissioner William C. ``Bill'' Owens Jr., for the North Carolina House seat held by retiring state Rep. Vernon G. James, D-Elizabeth City.

Owens, a longtime Democratic activist who operates a moving and storage business, waited for many years to run for the General Assembly but would not do so until James stepped down. Now he faces an increasingly difficult race against Schrote, one of the North Carolina Republican candidates expected to be helped by state and national GOP organizations.

When Schrote retired from federal service, he came to Corolla to live. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Earl L. Butz

KEYWORDS: NORTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN PARTY

NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE OF DELEGATE'S RACE CANDIDATE

by CNB