DATE: Thursday, October 9, 1997             TAG: 9710090520

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

TYPE: DECISION '97

SOURCE: JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY                    LENGTH:   61 lines

LEARY DEMANDING RUNOFF WITH ROBINSON CHALLENGER RAN JUST SEVEN VOTES BEHIND CITY COUNCIL INCUMBENT

W.O. ``Olie'' Leary will demand a runoff with City Council incumbent A.C. Robinson Jr. after falling just seven votes short in Tuesday's election.

``My phone has about rung off the hook with both blacks and whites in support,'' Leary said Wednesday. He plans to enter a written request for a runoff today.

Leary, a white former Elizabeth City police officer, was a long shot to win in the 4th Ward, which has an overwhelming black majority.

Leary received 306 votes to Robinson's 313. A third candidate, Carlotta Jordan, received 131 votes. Robinson and Jordan are black.

Election officials said Tuesday the winning candidate must get 40 percent plus one in a three-way race, but corrected themselves Wednesday. The 40-plus-one rule applies only in general elections. In local elections, a candidate must win a majority. Robinson needed 376 votes to win out of the 750 who voted Tuesday.

Because of the confusion Tuesday night, Robinson believed he had won.

``I thank the voters of this ward,'' he said just after the election results were in.

He said he planned to run for the prestigious position of vice president on the North Carolina League of Municipalities.

The league's election is scheduled for Oct. 20.

If he is elected to the third vice presidency of the league, he will ascend to the presidency in three years.

Though Jordan and Leary appeared unified to oust Robinson, Jordan would not commit her support.

``I'm not planning to endorse anyone,'' Jordan said Wednesday. ``At this point I consider the race over.''

Although Robinson appears to have fallen some in popularity, he has won every race since a special election in 1986.

Normally, city councilmen serve four years and council elections are held in odd years. But in 1983, the NAACP sued the city to force elections by ward and ensure the black population was represented. Black voters outnumber white voters by more than 500 in Elizabeth City.

The NAACP won the three-year suit, and Robinson and G. Wendell Spivey were the first blacks elected under the new ward system.

Robinson is still eligible to run for the League of Municipalities position. But if he loses in a runoff, which would be Nov. 4, he would have to step down, said Andy Romanet, general counsel of the N.C. League of Municipalities.

The league would appoint another councilman in Robinson's place. The new officer would not likely be from Elizabeth City. Robinson would face three other candidates if he runs for third vice president of the league.

League officers travel all over the state and often meet with the governor.

``There is a certain prestige to that,'' said Romanet.

Robinson could not be reached for comment. ILLUSTRATION: Photos

Robinson

Leary KEYWORDS: ELECTION NORTH CAROLINA CANDIDATES

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