Evening star., 1949-06-15
Virginia Voters
Elect Mayors,
Alexandra Names
Democrats; Price
Drops Contest Plan
By Robert c. RoIIinas

In balloting which saw q record
turnout for city elections, but no
upsets, residents Of Alexandra and
Falls Church yesterday selected
Mayors and members of their
City Councils.
A number of other Virginia mu-
inequalities also named Mayors.
council members or both.
Alexandria, which saw its first
two-party contest for the tradi-
tionally- Democratic City Council,
had 1852 votes cast.
In Falls Church, where the bal
loting was the first since the mu-
nicipality was advanced to the
status Of a second-class city last
August. the progressive, expan-
sionist group retained control Of
the government as 873 voters went
to the polls.
Contest Threat Removed.
The possibility of a court con-
test Of the Falls Church election
was removed today when Keith
Price. who last night said he would
protest, declared he would not "be-
cause 1t would work q hardship
on the townspeople."
Mr.. Price. chairman of the Fair
fax County Planning Commission.
had objected that the ballots had
been improperly printed through
the addition Of boxes and lines for
write-in candidates. He said the
procedure encouraged such ballot
ing.
He also protested that three per-
sons handing out campaign litera-
ture were too close to the first
ward polling place at City Hall.
Mr.. Price charged. In addition, that
o city mimeograph machine was
used to prepare literature for
candidate.
Democratic Ticket Wins.
The Democratic slate chosen In
the April primary was elected to
the Alexandra council, but the
low man. r. Samuel Luckett, in
cumbent had a margin Of only 76
votes, according to the unofficial
tally. over his nearest opponent,
Mayo Edwin Barrett. Independent.
A second Independent in the race
for the seven seats, r. Clinton
knight ran ninth. 10 votes behind
MIR. Barrett.
MIR. Luckett's victory was not
apparent until the final precinct
reported about 1880 q m, an hour
after all other totals were in.
Mr.. Luckett trailed Mr. Barrett
and Mr.. knight dyffHxs me- of the
returns, but forged ahead of the
latter and to within 40 votes OF
Mr. Harret when the second ward
reported. The fArnoryS precinct
Of the first ward gave him the
winning votes.
The two Republicans, Nathan ].
Paulson and Clyde j. verkerke,
trailed Mr.. Barrett and Mr..
Knight. but ran ahead of the
third Independent in the contest,
Lesley B. Mayer. Mr.. Mayer re-
ceived 823 votes.
Franklin p. Backus, q political
newcomer. will be the new Alex
andria mayor by virtue Of receiv-
ing the highest number of votes.
Mr.. Backus. q law partner of State
Senator Andrew w. Clarke. polled
3.113 votes. Mr.. Backus is q 35-
year-old Navy veteran and grad
uate of Alexandria public schools,
the University of Virginia and
George Washington University.
Ex-Fire Chief Wins.
Another first-time general elec-
ton candidate was one Of the
seven successful aspirants. He lis
James M. Duncan. jr., who polled
2,91S votes to run third Mr..
Duncan, 81, was city fire chief
for a number Of years before re-
signing after q row with the City
Council last year.
Other members of the Council,
which will take office In Septem-
ber, and the votes they received
are Albert A. Smoot, 2,952; Roy
c. Bragg, 2,757; lie Roy s. Bend
helm. 1857. and Marshall ]. Bev-
erley, 2.472. ALI are incumbents.
Elected without opposition were
v. Floyd Williams as city attor-
ney and G. Page Waller as city
collector. Mr.. Waller Is the In
cumbent.
While the 4,682-vote count was
q record for q municipal election.
1t was 623 votes less than was
cast in the April primary. Last
June. however, when four Demo-
Gratis were unopposed In the gen.
eral election, only 626 voters went
to the polls.
Back Nonrartisan Voting.
A majority of the new City
Council favors nonpartisan mu-
nicipal elections. Mr.. Backus.
however, is opposed to such vot-
ing.
In Falls Church the strength
of the incumbent faction led by
Mayor Albert Nj. Orme and City
Attorney LaRue Van Meter, sur
prised many experienced observers.
The election was on q nonparti-
san basis without party labels.
Mr.. Orme. who was unopposed,
received 582 votes. John r. Eakin,
incumbent councilman not up for
reelection, however. got 121
write-in votes.
In the first ward only three
candidates were running for the
three posts but there were con-
tests in the second and third
wards. The mayor and new
council viii take ofiice Septem-
Der !.
Administration Wins.
In the second ward. administra-
ton forces were swept into ofice.
with ]. II. Mccarthy receiving l3s
votes, Samuel e. McCrary, 101.