Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 12, 1990 TAG: 9004120399
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROB EURE POLITICAL WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The successful petition drive means Warner will receive the Republican nomination without a hitch, or even a formal action from the state party.
Moreover, since Democrats are not fielding a candidate to oppose Warner, his re-election now becomes a virtual certainty.
Warner has scheduled a news conference in Richmond this afternoon to announce that he has collected more than the 14,000 signatures he needs to have his name placed on the ballot in November.
"I think we've hit all our goals," Warner campaign Chairwoman Mary Vaughan Gibson said Wednesday.
Vaughan said the campaign was still receiving petitions signed and notarized by supporters at a rate of thousands a day. "We're still counting," she said.
Warner is saving the total for his news conference today, but several Republicans said Wednesday that he has more than he needs to qualify.
Several weeks ago, some Republican leaders were concerned that the drive might fail before the deadline on Friday.
Gibson said she began calling Republicans and Warner sent a mailing to Republicans statewide asking for their help and mentioning that at least one person has filed with the Democratic Party as a candidate.
Nancy Spannaus, a follower of political extremist Lyndon LaRouche, is working for the Democratic nomination, but party leaders have vowed not to allow her to carry their banner this fall. Later this month, Democrats hold mass meetings at which they plan to deny Spannaus the nomination.
Warner's call for help worked. As of April 2, Republican Party headquarters had 10,000 petitions filed and party activists reported that thousands of names were arriving in each day's mail.
Warner, 63, a former secretary of the Navy under President Richard Nixon, was elected to the Senate in 1978 by fewer than 5,000 votes over Democrat Andrew Miller.
But thanks to a strong first term and a weak 1984 opponent in former state Del. Edythe Harrison, Warner won re-election with 70 percent of the vote.
A lawyer who also operates a farm on his Middleburg estate, Warner is the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee and serves on the Environment and Public Works, Select Intelligence and Select Aging committees in the Senate.
by CNB