by Archana Subramaniam by CNB
Roanoke Times Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: THURSDAY, January 30, 1992 TAG: 9201300211 SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
OREBAUGH DROPS OUT OF RACE
Phoebe Orebaugh discovered this week what many other Republicans had suspected all along: Roanoke lawyer Bob Goodlatte probably has the party's nomination nailed down."Bob Goodlatte got in the race early and rounded up quite a bit of support before I got in," said Orebaugh, a retired teacher and former state legislator. "Because of our philosophical similarities, there was no reason for people to switch from him to me."
That's what many Republicans were saying when Goodlatte - who has pocketed political IOUs through the years as an aide to former Rep. Caldwell Butler in the 1970s, and as the party's 6th District chairman in the 1980s - announced his candidacy in mid-December.
Goodlatte was the first candidate to jump into the race after Rep. Jim Olin, D-Roanoke, declared he was retiring.
Even then, Goodlatte's presence was intimidating enough to scare off an incumbent congressman, Rep. George Allen, R-Albemarle, from moving into the district. Allen had been looking for a new political home after the Democrats carved up his district, throwing him in with another Republican congressman.
Allen soon discovered that Goodlatte already had lined up support from most of the key Republican leaders in the district, so he decided to stay put. He'll probably run for governor in 1993 instead.
But Orebaugh persevered, hoping that Goodlatte's support was overstated. She counted on hometown backing in the Shenandoah Valley and thought she could make Lynchburg a battleground.
Last week, though, Goodlatte went up the valley and trumpeted the support of 16 party leaders from Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County.
Then on Tuesday, Orebaugh got a call from a friend in Lynchburg. "She said that Goodlatte had quite a few people working for him there and she didn't sense I had solid support," Orebaugh said. "That's what made me change my mind. And when I make up my mind, I move fast."
So Tuesday night, she called Goodlatte to tell him she was getting out. Wednesday, she called reporters.
Orebaugh declined to make an endorsement, pointing out that "my good friend," former Augusta County Del. Emmett Hanger, still is mulling a run.
But many Roanoke Valley Republicans don't give the slow-moving Hanger any more of a chance than they did Orebaugh.
Goodlatte, though, says he's taking nothing for granted. "I'm very pleased with developments," he said. "We're going to keep up our same level of effort."
Keywords:
POLITICS