
DATE: Wednesday, November 5, 1997           TAG: 9711050790

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A3D  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   57 lines

2ND TERM BRINGS DRAKE CLOUT

Republican Del. Thelma S. Drake will return to Richmond determined to toughen state laws against prostitution, to phase out the much-hated car tax and to put thousands more teachers in school classrooms.

By weathering Tuesday's challenge from Democrat Todd M. Fiorella, Drake, 47, begins her second term representing the 87th state House District with an increased seniority that she hopes will translate into more clout.

Both candidates ran door-to-door campaigns in a relatively civil race. Drake, a real estate professional, scored points with a populist campaign that emphasized her involvement in PTAs and neighborhood crime watches.

Fiorella, 36, a lawyer making his first run for office, was an acknowledged underdog. Fiorella said his refusal to endorse cutting the property tax on cars - arguing for more money for schools and roads instead - hurt his chances.

Top among Drake's legislative priorities will be to renew previous efforts to crack down on prostitution, including suspending the driver's licenses of customers who use cars to solicit prostitutes. Several bills that she introduced during her first term got nowhere, but Drake said she now has a coalition of like-minded urban lawmakers, from Richmond to Roanoke, behind her.

``We can't spend the millions of dollars we're spending in East Ocean View and allow that kind of behavior to continue,'' Drake said of the neighborhood's ongoing redevelopment.

Drake, who knocked off entrenched Democratic Del. Howard E. Copeland in 1995, also said she will help Gov.-elect James S. Gilmore III carry his tax-cutting and education agenda through the General Assembly, including phasing out the property tax on cars and trucks valued at up to $20,000 and hiring 4,000 more schoolteachers. ILLUSTRATION: Photos

NHAT MEYER/The Virginian-Pilot

Thelma S. Drake...

D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/The Virginian-Pilot

...Todd M. Fiorella...Dr. William Vohringer...

Graphics

DRAKE 65%

FIORELLA 35%

DRAKE'S PRIORITIES

Crime: Toughen laws on prostitution

Car tax: Work to phase out the personal property tax on cars and

trucks valued at $20,000 or less

Education: Find money to hire 4,000 more schoolteachers and to