Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 28, 1993 TAG: 9303280079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Warner, 38, succeeds Paul Goldman, a close adviser to Gov. Douglas Wilder who was criticized for having poor relationships with Democratic activists and for taking the governor's side in feuding between Wilder and U.S. Sen. Charles Robb.
Although several Democrats called Saturday for an end to the feud, Warner declined to say if he would try his hand at peacemaking. The Robb-Wilder fight stems in part from the distribution by Robb's staff of a clandestinely recorded telephone conversation between Wilder and a friend in 1988.
"As long as I'm chairman of the Democratic Party, I intend to remain neutral in intraparty disputes," said Warner, who is expected to win a full four-year term at the state Democratic convention in May. His top goal, he said, is Democratic victories this year in elections for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and all 100 seats in the House of Delegates.
Warner was elected without opposition Saturday by the Democratic State Central Committee, the party's governing body. A Harvard law school graduate, he made his fortune in the cellular telephone industry. He is widely credited with bringing order to Wilder's campaign organization after taking it over in the summer of 1989, and he headed the governor's transition team after the election. Warner also was treasurer of Wilder's ill-fated presidential campaign in 1991.
Unlike Goldman, however, Warner has good relations with Robb and other leading Democratic politicians. He was elected chairman without opposition after being recommended for the post by Mary Sue Terry, the presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB