ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 2, 1995 TAG: 9512040078
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
THE HOTTEST FEUD AROUND isn't Hatfield vs. McCoy - it's Warner vs. McSweeney in the Republican Party.
Virginia's five Republican congressmen signed a letter Friday urging the state GOP leaders to hold a primary election next spring to nominate a candidate for the U.S. Senate.
The letter came as the GOP's 80-member Central Committee prepares to meet Dec. 9 to determine the nomination method that could decide whether U.S. Sen. John Warner will seek re-election as a Republican or an independent.
Warner has insisted that state law gives him the right to a primary next spring - a position that recently was backed in an opinion from Attorney General Jim Gilmore.
But a group of conservative GOP leaders who are feuding with Warner say they are convinced that the law is unconstitutional and that the party should have the right to determine its method of nomination.
State GOP Chairman Pat McSweeney will ask the Central Committee to insist on making the nomination at the state convention, scheduled for next May in Salem. Such a decision is certain to spur a legal challenge from Warner. The three-term Republican incumbent also has left open the possibility he will run as an independent if the GOP stages a convention.
Warner angered many party activists by opposing Republican nominee Oliver North in his bid for the U.S. Senate in 1994. In 1993, he refused to support Mike Farris, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor.
Many conservative activists said they believe Warner's nomination easily could be blocked in the controlled setting of a convention. Warner is being challenged by Jim Miller, a former Reagan administration budget chief.
The GOP congressmen - including Bob Goodlatte of Roanoke - urged the Central Committee to support a primary, warning that battling a lawsuit against Warner would waste "money that could be better spent on electing Republicans."
The congressmen also said a primary would help the public get an early look into Republican solutions to domestic and international problems. "We strongly believe a primary is the best way to chose our nominee," they said.
Advisers to Warner said privately that they believe they have enough Central Committee votes to back the primary. The letter, they said, should help win over a few undecided party leaders.
Several Warner opponents acknowledged that there seems to be little momentum for a convention. "It's not clear anyone is taking the lead, and that's a large part of our problem," said Doug Domenech, an adviser to Farris.
McSweeney dismissed the impact of the letter. "I don't make up my mind based on what incumbents say," he said. "It's not just a question of who chooses; it's about the integrity of the process."
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