Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 20, 1994 TAG: 9403200066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Both Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Charles Robb were in Roanoke for mass meetings, so the candidates had pinch-hitters speaking for them. Felix Miller spoke for his father and Lew Sheckler of Radford, the GOP's 9th District vice chairman, spoke for North.
The Montgomery County Republicans will send 87 delegate votes to the state convention in June and to the 9th District meeting in Wytheville in May. Each vote may be split up to five ways. About 100 people were signed up as delegates Saturday and will have to be qualified in the next week by paying a $35 fee.
Dave Nutter, Miller's coordinator in Montgomery County, said he believes Miller has the majority of support, based on his informal poll of the names signed up as delegates.
His decision was also based on the number of people wearing Miller adhesive badges at the meeting.
Early on, it appeared Miller was winning the political sign count. Miller signs outnumbered North signs during the first hour of registration, but later, North supporters posted more throughout the Blacksburg Middle School cafeteria where the meeting was held.
Sheckler said he thinks a letter released last week by former President Ronald Reagan will cause North little harm. Reagan, in a letter to former Nevada Sen. Paul Laxalt, said he is "getting pretty steamed" about "false statements" North made that Reagan authorized the Iran-Contra scandal and encouraged North to lie about it to Congress.
North reiterated on Friday claims that Miller supporters misrepresented his comments to the former president in an effort to draw Reagan into the campaign.
Felix Miller said his father's campaign would have been happy with 35 percent of the support.
"We won Montgomery County, I'm fully confident," Miller said.
Sheckler disputed that.
"They don't know what percentage of support they have. . . . I believe that North will come out with the majority," not only in Montgomery County but also in the 9th District, Sheckler said.
"I don't think hardly anyone will switch from North to Miller," Sheckler said. "If anything, it will boomerang," he said, and people will become "disgusted" with Miller's smear tactics.
But Nutter said many people are rethinking their support for North.
"North's been running for Senate for two years," Nutter said. "Now, as it gets closer, people are taking a second look."
Milton Franklin, 31, of Blacksburg, said he hasn't taken an in-depth look at the headlines this week, but he still supports North.
"Mr. North has been very honest. He's been very loyal to the party," Franklin said.
Other business conducted at the Republican mass meeting included:
Electing Pat Cupp as the new chairman of the county Republican party. Cupp, a real estate broker, was a candidate last year for the Republican nomination for the 12th District House of Delegates seat now held by Democrat Jim Shuler. Cupp lost the nomination to Nick Rush, a member of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors.
Passing a resolution unanimously endorsing Steve Fast as the Republican candidate for the 9th District Congressional seat currently held by Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon. Fast, a Bluefield College professor, addressed the county Republicans earlier in the day.
Selecting about 70 people to serve on the county group's unit committee, the equivalent of the Democrats' county committee.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB