Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 2, 1990 TAG: 9004020394
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A4 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: PETER MATHEWS NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But Ferreira, 41, stopped short of declaring a candidacy outright, saying he is still trying to find someone else to run against the four-term Abingdon Democrat.
"Under the right conditions I think I should or a number of other people should," he said. "I'm in a position right now where I can't say no while I'm asking other people to say yes."
At a meeting Sunday in Wytheville, the district committee recommended that the party field a candidate and urged Ferreira to run. The party should know what it will do when the district committee meets again, most likely May 6 in Wytheville. The district convention is June 9.
The party might have a better chance against Boucher in 1992, with a popular Republican president presumably sharing the ticket, Ferreira said. But while election laws permit uncontested incumbents to stockpile campaign funds for future races, the party out of power cannot, so failure to field a candidate this year could hurt the GOP, he said.
Ferreira was reluctant to specifically criticize Boucher's voting record. But he said Govs. Charles Robb, Gerald Baliles and Douglas Wilder - and recent U.S. senators - had not kept promises to pay special attention to Southwest Virginia's problems.
Boucher, though responsive to his constituents, "takes a lot of credit for stuff he doesn't do," said Montgomery County GOP Chairman John Beamer. "We really feel like he's the most liberal member of Congress in the entire South."
He and Ferreira agreed that running a candidate would give the party a chance to articulate its positions, even in a losing effort. And although it gets harder to defeat incumbents every year, Ferreira does think the GOP could do it.
"We're not going to overstate our chances," he said. "Rick can be beaten."
Boucher was first elected in 1982, when he defeated former Rep. Bill Wampler Sr. with 50.4 percent of the vote. He garnered 52 percent in 1984 and 63.4 percent in 1988. He was unopposed in 1986, the first time a Fightin' Ninth race had gone uncontested in 129 years.
Ferreira has been party chairman in the district for four years. He worked on Sen. John Warner's 1978 and 1984 Senate campaigns, as well as former Sen. Paul Trible's 1982 bid. Ferreira and his wife, Jennifer, run a combination gift shop and bakery in Abingdon.
by CNB