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

DATE: SATURDAY, April 24, 1993                   TAG: 9304240328
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURA WILLIAMSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TERRY AND MILLER BACKED

In an unprecedented move, the Virginia Education Association's political action committee endorsed two gubernatorial candidates Friday - one from each side of the political fence.

The VEA, which traditionally backs Democrats, voted to support both former Attorney General Mary Sue Terry and Republican Del. Clinton Miller of Woodstock.

"This is not a slap [to Terry]," said VEA President Robley Jones. "We have good friends on both sides of the aisle."

One reason the education association traditionally supports Democratic candidates for governor, said Jones, is that the Republican candidates refuse to be interviewed. This year, the VEA interviewed all five gubernatorial candidates.

"What's different from in the past, is that this is the first time that Republicans have chosen to participate in our process," Jones said.

Jones said the teachers' association political action committee had endorsed Miller in his run for the House of Delegates and also supported Republican Marshall Coleman during his successful campaign for attorney general.

"Virginia's children need friends in both parties," he said.

Pam Womack, Terry's campaign manager, said Terry was "very pleased to get the early endorsement" and not disturbed by having to share it.

"It shows that the VEA is a bipartisan group," she said.

Of the association's approximately 50,000 members, 29 percent are Republicans, 31 percent are Democrats and 40 percent are independent, Jones said. Not all members belong to the political action committee.

He said Terry and Miller both supported the association's goals, but differed slightly when it came to teachers' salaries.

Terry, said Jones, offered to raise teachers' salaries "if money was available," whereas Miller promised to do so unconditionally.

The political arm of the VEA will choose a single candidate to endorse in August, following both parties' nominating conventions, Jones said. It will base its decision partially on what the candidates say during a VEA forum in Richmond on Aug. 4, where members of past and present administrations also will speak.

The education association hopes to donate as much as $40,000 to candidates for the House of Delegates and statewide offices this year, Jones said.

Keywords:
POLITICS

by CNB