Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 18, 1993 TAG: 9311180144
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROB EURE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
And Gov.-elect George Allen, and Attorney General-elect Jim Gilmore are planning to pass up a big-dollar soiree next month - reflecting a widening rift between Allen and party chairman Patrick McSweeney.
In the weeks since the Nov. 2 GOP victory, the state party has sent out several signals of its financial straits, including a letter last week to activists pleading for cash.
"The good news is that George Allen and Jim Gilmore will have nine new members of the House of Delegates to help them implement the changes you voted for on Nov. 2," said the letter sent Nov. 9 by McSweeney. ". . . The bad news is that your state party is out of money."
McSweeney charged in the letter that a appeal just before the election for $180,000 was held up by "our pro-Democrat, pro-union friends in the U.S. Postal Service . . . Thanks to the Postal Service, we didn't come close to meeting our goal."
This week, the GOP's plans for a fund-raiser Dec. 3 in Richmond to honor Allen, Gilmore and the new legislators were dampened when Allen and Gilmore said they couldn't come.
The two men plan to attend a Republican dinner in Culpeper that evening, sponsored by the 7th District GOP Committee, said Mike Thomas, Allen's campaign manager and now director of transition. The 7th is Allen's home district.
Thomas also questioned the party's fund-raising approach: ticket prices range from $15,000 for a top table to $75 for a plate.
"I want to make it clear we wouldn't be comfortable with that," Thomas said, recalling Allen's election night victory speech in which he asserted his independence from big business or special interests.
"Clearly, both Gov. Allen and Jim Gilmore are committed to helping the party raise money in the future - after the inauguration," Thomas said.
Several Republican sources said Wednesday they would not be surprised to learn the party is in debt and pointed to McSweeney's tepid support of Allen as the cause.
The party has cut its staff in the past week, and several employees are on notice to look for other work, said one party leader, who said the cuts may reduce the full-time staff to five.
"The problem is not money," said another party leader. "The real problem is the relationship between the new administration and the chairman. Pat McSweeney is just not cooperative. I don't think anybody has an agenda on how to deal with Pat right now."
Some Republicans said that without financial help, McSweeney may be forced out. "We don't need to engage in recriminations, particularly after a great victory," McSweeney said Wednesday of speculation about his future. The party intended to spend all its money on the campaign, he added, and it's not unusual for it to be short of cash in the weeks following an election.
Trouble between McSweeney and Allen dates to February, when McSweeney organized a meeting of 20 of Richmond's biggest GOP financial backers to hear from Allen and his two opponents for the gubernatorial nomination. Allen's camp saw the session as an attempt to derail his front-running campaign; after the meeting, only two of the 20 voted Allen their favorite for the nomination.
Shortly after Allen was nominated in June, he appealed to the state party's executive committee for money to help his cash-poor campaign advertise on television. McSweeney blocked the $50,000 request, citing a rule against donations not in the budget. Late in the campaign, the party gave more than $40,000 to Allen, but his loyalists remember the denial in the early, crucial period.
"Those boots are made for stomping," said another long-time party worker, referring to Allen's habit of wearing cowboy boots.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB