THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 7, 1995 TAG: 9511070270
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
Dare County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robert V. ``Bobby'' Owens Jr. will not run against incumbent 3rd District Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr. in next year's congressional elections.
Owens, who had been considering a run against Jones, said Monday he will remain on the job as commission chairman and as Gov. James B. Hunt Jr.'s eastern region representative.
``I'm going to stay here,'' the 62-year-old Owens said after a Board of Commissioners meeting. ``I had considered running because I believe Jones is beatable. But with welfare reform and other issues facing the county, I think it's best that I stay here.''
Owens is expected to play a key role in Hunt's 1996 re-election campaign.
``I gave it a lot of thought,'' Owens said. ``I had a some strong support lined up. I think I could have attracted a lot of votes from women, from senior citizens and from the average guy on the street. But I thought it was important for me to be here.''
As far as an endorsement of a Democratic candidate, Owens would not name anyone.
``I would say it would have to be a conservative Democrat,'' he said. ``I think people in North Carolina will vote for a conservative Democrat.''
Owens will attend a meeting of the Democratic Leadership Council in December. The Council, made up of moderate and conservative Democrats, was instrumental in Bill Clinton's successful bid for the presidency in 1992.
Former North Carolina Senate President Pro Tempore Henson Barnes, a Goldsboro attorney, has been considering a run against Jones for the congressional seat in 1996. Barnes was not available for comment Monday.
Meanwhile, the Jones campaign is already at work building a war chest in anticipation of a 1996 challenge. Former Vice President Dan Quayle spoke on Jones' behalf last Friday at a Greenville fundraiser.
Reached at his Capitol Hill office, Jones declined comment on Owens' decision not to run. by CNB