THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 19, 1994 TAG: 9409190069
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICH SQUARE LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
There's a long, long campaign trail a-winding every week back to Republican Ted Tyler's political headquarters at a front table in David and Lynda Johnson's downtown restaurant here.
``This is where the hopes and dreams begin and where a lot of people come to help Ted,'' said Lynda last week. ``Folks are counting on him as the man we truly need in Washington - and that includes a lot of Democrats.''
Tyler is an unsinkable GOP candidate who is again spending his own money to try to unseat U.S. Rep. Eva M. Clayton, D-Warren, in November's 1st Congressional District race.
When the General Assembly gave the 1st District an African-American voter-majority for the 1992 elections, Clayton easily defeated Tyler and became the first black and the first female to go to Congress from North Carolina in this century.
``We learned a lot in that first race and this year we're going to win, even though some Republican Party leaders don't think so,'' said Tyler, a 59-year old white pharmaceutical salesman.
The GOP high command has virtually ignored Tyler while pouring support into the campaign of Walter B. Jones Jr., a former Democrat who is running this year as a Republican against incumbent Democratic Rep. H. Martin Lancaster, in the 3rd Congressional District.
``I haven't received any help; not a dime, from party headquarters,'' said Tyler.
``But don't forget,'' he said, ``that I got more 1st District votes than President Bush two years ago and this year we're going to fool everybody.''
As a result of the 1992 congressional reapportionment, the new 1st and 3rd Districts now parallel each other in eastern North Carolina from the Virginia border to South Carolina.
Many white voter enclaves in the former 1st District were switched to the 3rd District. Voting rights guidelines created a reversed situation in the new 1st District, where less than half of the registered voters are now whites.
``I'm concentrating on the new 1st District counties farther south, toward Wilmington and Fayetteville, where I should have as much name recognization as any other candidate,'' said Tyler.
``In fact, I don't ever mention Eva Clayton or President Clinton in my campaign speeches,'' said Tyler.
``I talk about paying our bills and balancing the budget and I think people know who's responsible for the mess we're in in Washington.''
So far, Tyler said, he has ``about seven to ten thousand dollars'' in his campaign fund. ``In 1992 I spent six thousand and ended up with a balanced budget - I had a few hundred left over.''
This year, David Johnson, the Rich Square restaurateur and Tyler's close friend, is acting as Tyler's financial chairman and all-around campaign helper-outer back home while Tyler is on the road. The two men went to school together in Northampton County, a sprawling agricultural community that has the Virginia state line for a northern border.
``I was mayor of Rich Square in Northampton County for 10 years - until last year - and we always had a balanced budget. I wouldn't be much of a candidate if I didn't do the same thing with my campaigns,'' said Tyler.
As of June 30, the most recent reporting period, Clayton told the N.C. Board of Elections she had $66,270 on hand and had spent $56,698. Tyler reported receiving $6,972 and spending $4,182.
``I'm going to attend some of the rallies for Walter Jones in the 3rd District and I have a busy schedule in my own district between now and election day,'' Tyler said.
``And I'll appear on the same platform with Mrs. Clayton at one of the political forums.''
Clayton has a crowded and well-publicized schedule of campaign stops throughout the 1st District.
Attorney General Janet Reno is scheduled to be principal speaker at a youth-summit sponsored by Clayton in Fike High School in Wilson on Sept. 24.
Tyler spends a lot of his speech-making targeting what he calls the folly of big government.
``For instance,'' he says, ``After World War I - the first big war in this century - somebody in Washington decided that blimps would win the next war. So we started pumping helium out of the ground in Texas. The government is still producing a billion dollars worth of helium every year. When is enough enough?''
Tyler says he tries to discourage fund-raisers.
``When people come to hear me I think I ought to pay my own way; but if they want to give me a check that's fine.''
``Dizzy Dean used to say it ain't braggin' if you can do it. I'm going to win,'' said Tyler.
KEYWORDS: REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE CONGRESSIONAL RACE by CNB