■"S' I ■ ■ „ n.
JAMES “JIM” RICHARDSON
.. Victory fxirty shortlived
Despite Defeat
James Richardson Wins
By Terri By rum
Special To The Post
Jim Richardson emerged
as a political newcomer
this year and ran for the
- State House of Represent
L atives. For about 10 months
' Richardson and his crew of
volunteers worked long
• hours campaigning. He
! faced tough opposition and
as election day ap
proached, everyone knew it
would be a close race.
By 10 p.m. the votes were
tabulated at Election
~ Central (the Civic Center)
and Jim Richardson was
* declared a winner in the
race for State House, de
feating incumbent Demo
crat Gus Economos.
“It was a jubilant oc
casion,” says Richardson.
"We got all our people to
gether and had a victory
party." All evening and the
following day, the Richard
son family called out of
town relatives with the
_ news and themselves re
ceived countless calls of
congratulations. It seemed
. too good to be true.
,. And so it was.
L-aie weonesaay atter
noon, Richardson received
a phone call from Phyllis
Lynch, a member of the
local Board of Elections.
Mrs. Lynch told Richard
son that there seemed to be
some “irregularities” in
the vote tabulations and
she and Elections Super
visor Bill Culp asked to
meet with Jim Richardson
in his home to discuss the
details.
Richardson knew then
that his 18-hour victory
celebration had come to a
screeching halt. In discus
sion with Culp and Mrs.
Lynch, he clearly saw
where totals had been inno
cently misread and cal
culated.
Human error. Jim Rich
ardson had not won after
all and incumbent Gus
Economos had taken the
lead by a slim margin. And
that was that. Economos
was in, and Richardson
was out.
After tasting the spoils of
victory for a day, Rich
ardson was now faced with
the reality of the situation.
The Elections Board had
called a press conference
for Thursday morning to
announce the error and
subsequent results, and
Jim had the evening ahead
of him to explain to his
supporters.
Jim Richardson says he
may not have won the
House seat this year, but in
Blakeneys
Celebrate 50th
Anniversary
Ozie Blakeney and Lattie
Mae White Blakeney ce
lebrated 50 years of ma
rital bliss recently at their
home with family attend
ing. They married Novem
ber 6, 1932
Blakeney, 71, and his
wife, 69. have shared many
blessings throughout the
years including seven
children: Eva L. Pittman,
Henry L. Blakeney, Robert
L. Blakeney, Evelyn Farm
er and Yvonne Burley. The
late Willie Lee Blakeney
and the late Aretha Mae
Blakeney.
The honored couple also
has 11 grandchildren
Blakeney is a member of
Little Rock AMp Zion
Church; Mrs. Blakeney is a
member and sings on the
Hymn Choir of Greater Mt.
Sinai Baptist Church.
no way was he a loser.
“My supporters did a tre
mendous job, they got the
voters to really analyze the
qualifications of the can
didates and not just vote on
the color of the skin. "
It was tough news to be
reckoned with There were
some tears, and there was
anger. But most of all,
there was sadness and an
understanding that the
miscalculation had been an
innocent mistake. "It
could have happened to
anyone,” says Richardson.
Upon hearing news of the
upset and after enjoying
being "representative-for
a-day," it would have been
easy for Jim Richardson to
display great anger and
resentment. It would have
been easy to reject the new
figures, claim collusion
and turn it into a racial
issue. But Richardson re
mained unflinching in his
support of “the system,"
and assured his camp, “It
was not a racial issue just
because a black and a
white were involved."
Although Richardson will
not be a part of the Le
gislative Delegation in
I
Raleigh for the coming two
years, he is by no means a
loser It is very unusual for
a political newcomer to
receive as many votes as
Jim Richardson did from
all segments of the com
munity. Should Richardson
decide to run for office at
another time, he will have
a very strong base of sup
port on which to build
another campaign.
Richardson is a retired
worker with the postal ser
vice. He is currently chair-,
man of the N.C. Social
Service Commission. Re
cently, Richardson served
as Vice Chairman for the
Study Commission for
Mecklenburg County Dis
trict Representation. A
past member of the Youth
Homes Inc., Jim Richard
son was a Vice Chairman
for the Mecklenburg Men
tal Health Authority.
Most people realize that
it takes strength and cour
age to run for office. But in
view of the way Jim Rich
ardson has accepted the
dramatic turn of events, he
has emerged as a coura
geous hero of whom we can
all be proud.
Support For Knox Takes
On Statewide Proportions
What started out as a
local expression of support
for Eddie Knox has taken
on statewide proportions
Busloads of supporters
from around North Carol
ina are planning to attend a
special "Holiday Party for
Eddie and His Friends" at
the Charlotte Civic Center
December 4th
The gala was planned by
a number of community
leaders as a way for
Charlotteans to “show ap
preciation for the outstand
ing leadership Eddie Knox
has given our city and to let
him know we are backing
him 100 percent for go
vernor," said Bob Eller, a
co-chairman of the party
"And perhaps we can raise
some money for him. too."
ine committee had
planned for about 1,000
local friends of the mayor
of Charlotte to attend the
party which will usher in
the holiday season. “But
when word got out, people
from all over the state
wanted to come." said co
chairman Marc Silverman.
"We have been having tre
mendous response. For
example, we already know
of two busloads of people
coming from Caldwell
County and another two
buses coming from Stanly
There is a large contigent
coming down from
Raleigh We are thrilled at
this expression of sup
port.”
Knox, a Democrat now
serving his second term as
mayor, said, "It is wonder
ful to hear that people want
to come here from out of
town to encourage me to
run for Governor." The
•nr \ _
Eddie Knox
1 Ians gala parly
former state senator and
former chairman of the
state's Advisory Budget
Commission has not
formally announced his
candidacy, but is seriously
considering the race.
Funds generated by the
$50 per person holiday
party will be used to help
create awareness of Eddie
Knox around the state The
overall party is sponsored
by the "North Carolina
Citizens Who Want Eddie
Knox To Be Governor "
The festive event will in
clude a buffet, music,
dancing and the premiere
of a new film about Eddie
Knox.
Hartman Enlists
David Eugene Hartman,
son of Mr. and Mrs. James
A. Hartman of 1034
Nancy Drive recently en
listed in the Marine Corps
Hartman enlisted in the
Delay Entry Program for
four years and has been
guaranteed training in the
Marine Corps Infantry Op
tion Field He will leave for
Parris Island, S.C.
“Te” will keep * you
abreast of religious news
and events in the “Church
News Briefs” each week.
Aood«wM««
| THE CHARLOTTE POST
L
Program and decorating
arrangements are being
handled by Sandy Eagan
who arranged the Mayor's
Annual Charity Ball, and
Nancy Mahaffeym who co
ordinates the Heart Fund
Ball
Individuals who would
like tickets for the Holi
day Party for Eddie and
His Friends should send $50
for each ticket to: KNOX
84. 407 East Blvd . Char
lotte. NC 2820.3, or call 704
333-3126
Winn-Dixie
Reports Sales
Increase
Winn-Dixie Stores. Inc
reported sales of $518,188.
ooo during the four weeks
ended October 20, com
pared with $481,276,000 for
the similar period last
year, an increase of 7 7
percent
For the 16 weeks ended
October 20. 1982, the total
was $1,101,012,000 com
pared with $1,946,632,000 a
year ago. an increase of 7 9
percent. The company
opened 14 new stores and
closed eight since June 30,
1982, having 1,228 in ope
ration on October 20. 1982.
compared with 1,225 last
year.
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