Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 12, 1993 TAG: 9309120120
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short
The GOP state central committee declined to heed the caution of U.S. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., that a vote on the selection method would distract Republicans from statewide elections Nov. 2.
"Our 1993 Republican candidates, all three, have earned the right to our total attention this fall and then to a voice in the party's 1994 options for nominating a Senate candidate," Warner wrote Thursday to Patrick McSweeney, state GOP chairman. McSweeney said Warner's letter was not brought up during a discussion before the closed-door vote. Warner and his top aides were not present.
McSweeney said his only interest in voting now was logistical. Fairfax County Republicans were concerned they might not be able to find a meeting hall large enough next year to select convention delegates if they had to wait until December to find out nomination method. He said there was no sentiment in the state central committee to hold a primary instead of a convention.
Oliver North, a former Marine officer and Iran-Contra figure, is a leading contender for the party's Senate nomination and his supporters pushed for the convention.
North's likely opponents for the nomination, former Reagan administration budget director James C. Miller III and former U.S. Attorney Jay Stephens, joined Warner in saying the convention call should be put off until December.
The convention will be held June 3-4, 1994, at the Richmond Coliseum.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB