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

DATE: Sunday, November 6, 1994               TAG: 9411060175
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY                     LENGTH: Short :   48 lines

SOME GOP CHIEFS PUSH OWENS, A DEMOCRAT OWENS' REPUBLICAN OPPONENT SAYS HE'S NOT WORRIED.

A dozen local Republican leaders, including several former Pasquotank GOP chairmen, have endorsed Democrat Bill Owens for the North Carolina House of Representatives.

The stamp of approval comes in a ``Dear Fellow Republican'' letter sent to party members in and near Pasquotank County, Owens said.

``We believe that you share the belief in the two party political system for North Carolina,'' the letter reads. ``However, we also hope that you would agree that it should be more important to vote for the most qualified candidate rather than strictly by political affiliation . . .

``We know Bill Owens personally . . . We know his integrity and personal dedication to the service of the citizens of Pasquotank County, and we believe he will show the same integrity and dedication to all of the citizens of the First District.''

Signers of the letter include former Pasquotank Republican Chairmen J. Timothy Thornton, Geraldine M. Weeks, Phillip J. Donahue and Robert N. Powell, as well as other GOP activists who have served with Owens in venues such as the College of The Albemarle trustee board.

The endorsement came a few days after Owens' opponent, Corolla Republican John Schrote, announced he had been endorsed by stock car king and Republican magnate Richard Petty, the National Rifle Association and former Republican Gov. James G. Martin.

Schrote also has received financial contributions from several national Republican activists, legislators and Cabinet officials who served under presidents Nixon, Reagan and Bush.

``You can bet I'm gonna get over 90 percent of the Republican vote,'' Schrote said Saturday in response to Owens' mailing. ``And you can also bet that Bill Owens is not gonna get 90 percent of the Democratic vote. So I'll give him a few of those Republicans.''

``All he could say, and all they could say, is that he's part of the good-old-boy establishment,'' said Schrote, who has been running as an outsider opposing Owens' political connections.

Owens said the endorsements show he has bipartisan support.

KEYWORDS: ELECTION NORTH CAROLINA by CNB