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

DATE: Friday, November 11, 1994              TAG: 9411100210
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON    PAGE: 20   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY W. KEVIN ARMSTRONG, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   66 lines

NORTH WINS IN BEACH, BUT LOSES THE RACE

Oliver L. North won the battle Tuesday in Virginia Beach, but he lost the months-long war in the commonwealth.

The retired Marine lieutenant colonel mustered about 1,500 more votes than incumbent Sen. Charles S. Robb did in the resort city, bucking the trend across other South Hampton Roads cities. In the end, Robb won the right to keep his seat in Washington by outpolling North 46 to 43 percent statewide.

The controversial Senate race helped draw 65 percent of the city's registered voters to the polls Tuesday, which compares with an 84 percent turnout in the 1992 presidential election and only 27.5 percent who turned out for City Council and School Board races last May.

North edged out Robb in Virginia Beach by slightly more than 1 percent, winning 36 of the city's 62 precincts. He chalked up large margins in Brandon, Great Neck and Ocean Lakes, while Robb did well in Bayside, Seatack and the South Beach areas. Independent J. Marshall Coleman earned 13 percent of the Beach vote but failed to win a single precinct.

While the Beach bolted from the rest of the region in the Senate race, it shared support for the city's primary Congressional representative.

Rep. Owen B. Pickett won a fifth term Tuesday, defeating Republican Jim Chapman for the 2nd District seat. Pickett won by an even larger margin than he did two years ago when he turned aside Chapman's first challenge. Pickett took 59 percent of the vote across the district, which covers most of Virginia Beach and Norfolk. He won 57 percent of the vote in Virginia Beach and 65 percent in Norfolk.

Chapman managed to outpoll Pickett in only three Beach precincts, including the Republican's home turf in Thoroughgood, winning there by only 10 votes.

Only one precinct in Virginia Beach is not in the 2nd District. Residents in the west Kempsville area who vote at Centerville Elementary School live in the 4th District, which extends west through Suffolk to Petersburg.

Virginia Beach voters who live in the 4th District gave Republican George Sweet a 15-vote edge over incumbent Norman Sisisky, but the Democrat was re-elected to his seventh term. Sweet, who is pastor of Atlantic Shores Baptist Church in Kempsville, was making his first run for public office.

Sisisky faced one his toughest challenges yet in his 12 years in Congress but still won with 61 percent of the vote. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by

MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN

and MORT FRYMAN

LEFT: Second District Democrat incumbent Owen Pickett waves to his

supporters after his victory speech at Grand Affairs.

RIGHT: Republican challenger Jim Chapman greets disappointed backers

at Holiday Inn-Greenwich.

Chart

Virginia Beach [Election Results]

For copy of chart, see microfilm or Library clip file

(ELECTION--VIRGINIA BEACH)

KEYWORDS: ELECTION RESULSTS VOTING

U.S. SENATE RACE CONGRESSIONAL RACE

by CNB