
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, April 9, 1990                   TAG: 9004090322
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

FEW CONGRESSIONAL RACES LIKELY/ ONLY THREE OR FOUR INCUMBENTS FACE CHALLENGE

Virginia voters not only will have no Democrat on their ballots opposing Republican Sen. John Warner in November, they also are unlikely to see anyone challenging their incumbent congressman.

All of Virginia's 10 congressmen are seeking re-election this year, but no more than three or four will face a challenge.

Democrats plan to oppose three of the state's five Republican congressmen. The GOP may challenge one of the five incumbent Democrats.

It doesn't make much sense to run against an incumbent congressman this year, said Joe Elton, executive director of the Virginia GOP.

"The census is taking place and redistricting is just around the corner next year. With redistricting we're expecting to pick up an additional seat in Virginia," Elton said.

"I think a lot of people feel like there's going to be some major shifts in the congressional districts, so 1992 represents the best chance with new districts, and also running with George Bush at the top of the ticket is a lot more appealing than running in the off year," he said.

John McGlennon, a College of William and Mary political analyst who is 1st District Democratic chairman, said the census deterred Democrats from challenging four-term Republican Rep. Herbert H. Bateman for the first time this year.

The other Republican congressman unlikely to face a Democratic challenge this year is Rep. Frank Wolf of the 10th District.

Democrats without opposition this year include Owen Pickett of the 2nd District, Norman Sisisky of the 4th, Lewis F. Payne Jr. of the 5th and Rick Boucher of the 9th.

In the 6th District, Del. Emmett W. Hanger Jr., R-Augusta, has backed off from challenging Democratic Rep. Jim Olin, but former Roanoke Mayor Willis M. Anderson is still weighing a bid, said Don Duncan, 6th District chairman.

Republicans have shied away because of the time and money needed to run for Congress and the long odds of beating an incumbent, Duncan said.

"Ninety-eight percent of them are re-elected and the ones who are not there's usually some kind of scandal attached to them," he said. "Certainly it makes people stop and think."

Democrats are concentrating on ousting Rep. Stanford Parris, R-8th, a 12-year congressman who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination for governor last year. Parris already has indicated he will try for the governor's mansion again in 1993. Alexandria Mayor James P. Moran Jr. is the only contender for the Democratic nomination to oppose him.

Rep. Thomas J. Bliley Jr., R-3rd, is being challenged by Democrat J.A. Starke Jr., a Henrico County plumbing and heating contractor making his first run for public office.

In the 7th District, the pending reapportionment has prompted Democrats to challenge Republican Rep. French Slaughter for the first time since 1984.

The district is one of the most Republican in the state, so the Democrats want to show they still have some strength before state legislators redraw the district boundaries next year, said George H. Gilliam, 7th District chairman.

by CNB