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

DATE: SATURDAY, June 5, 1993                   TAG: 9306050028
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun
DATELINE: DALLAS                                LENGTH: Medium

PEROT ENDORSES GOP SENATE CANDIDATE IN TEXAS RUNOFF RACE

The strange Senate election campaign in Texas is coming to a bizarre close, with independent Ross Perot delivering a de facto endorsement to a Republican candidate already heavily favored to win by a comfortable margin.

It was the first time Perot has interceded directly in a Senate or congressional election since he polled 19 percent of the vote as an independent presidential candidate last year. And the Texas billionaire chose an opportunity that seemed to represent a minimal political risk.

With fewer than 20 percent of Texas voters expected to cast ballots today, Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison apparently holds a lead of 10 percent to 15 percent over Sen. Bob Krueger, the Democrat appointed last winter to replace Lloyd Bentsen, who was named Treasury secretary.

Perot's support took the form of an announcement here that his political organization, United We Stand America, or UWSA, had polled its Texas members and found 84 percent favoring Hutchison over Krueger. Bill Walker, the UWSA state director, said one-third of those polled by postcard responded, but he declined to say how many members were involved - or even whether the number was in the hundreds or the thousands.

With Perot smiling and uncharacteristically silent in the first row at a news conference, Walker balked at using the word "endorsement" because, he said, it might jeopardize the tax status of the organization. So he limited himself to informing Hutchison that she had "the overwhelming support" of UWSA members.

The Republican candidate replied that she was "very pleased and honored to have this endorsement" and believed it could be "very significant" in increasing the turnout in the runoff today.

As a practical matter, the blessing of Perot, however described, seemed to be only additional icing on the cake. The most recent published poll here showed Hutchison leading by 19 points.

Hutchison established herself as the clear favorite in the first primary May 1, in which she ran slightly ahead of Krueger - each had 29 percent of the vote - even though she had two relatively prominent rivals, Reps. Jack Fields and Joe Barton, competing for Republican votes in the field of 24 candidates from both parties.

by CNB