BOWERS TO STAY NEUTRAL IN CONTESTED RACE

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

DATE: TUESDAY, March 9, 1993                   TAG: 9303090115
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
BOWERS TO STAY NEUTRAL IN CONTESTED RACE
Roanoke Mayor David Bowers will stay neutral in the fight for the Democratic party nomination for commissioner of revenue between David Anderson and Marsha Fielder.
Bowers said Monday that he won't take sides because he has received support from both Anderson and Fielder in the past.
But Dan Frei, Bowers' campaign manager in his winning race for mayor last year, is supporting Anderson.
Bowers said he has been urged by supporters of both candidates to make an endorsement. "I've heard from both sides - from party stalwarts who are backing [Anderson] to those supporting [Fielder]." Some labor union officials want him to back Fielder.
Bowers said he has talked with Anderson and Fielder and told them he won't take sides. But he has assured them that he will support whoever wins the party nomination.
Nearly all of the Democratic leaders and officeholders wore Anderson stickers at a news conference Monday when three officials announced they would seek re-election.
The same officials appeared with Anderson last month when he announced he would seek the party nomination for the post being vacated by Republican Jerome Howard.
Frei, a political strategist backing Anderson, downplayed comparisons between Bowers' campaign for the party nomination for mayor and Fielder's campaign for the nomination for commissioner of revenue.
Most party leaders supported Bowers' opponent, Councilman Howard Musser, just as they now back Anderson.
But Frei said there is a significant difference: Bowers had worked in city Democratic politics for years, while Fielder is a newcomer who has not been active in city politics.
Fielder has worked for 13 years in the commissioner of revenue's office in Roanoke County. Her father, Wayne Compton, is county commissioner of revenue.
Frei also disputed Fielder's charge that the city Democratic Committee is a "close-knit group" that resists change.
"It includes a cross section of people from all different groups and ages," he said.
Fielder said she will run a grass-roots campaign and try to reach different groups.
Keywords:
POLITICS

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB