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

DATE: FRIDAY, December 24, 1993                   TAG: 9312240195
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

FIGURES TELL STORY OF ELECTION

Republican George Allen captured the votes of 63 percent of married Virginia voters in his landslide win of the Nov. 2 governor's race.

The finding was among dozens noted Wednesday by Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political analyst.

Black Virginians, who normally vote Democratic, stayed away from the polls in large numbers, while white evangelical Christian voters turned out in record numbers, Sabato said.

Allen took more than 58 percent of the vote to defeat Democrat Mary Sue Terry.

"Much of the Democrats' October advertising strategy was built around attacking the Republicans for their reliance upon fundamentalist Christian leaders such as Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell," Sabato said. "Exit poll data suggest that their strategy backfired, solidifying and energizing the fundamentalist vote for the GOP."

But Allen also did much better among black voters than the last four GOP candidates for governor, Sabato said.

According to exit polls from various precincts, Allen won up to 22 percent of the black vote. Normally, Republicans win perhaps half that amount, Sabato said.

Black turnout was 50.5 percent of registered voters, he said. Overall turnout was 61.1 percent of registered voters.

Another Sabato discovery: "The most remarkable demographic finding is that a majority of women chose not to support Terry, the first female major-party candidate for governor of Virginia," he said.

Allen was backed by 52 percent of women voters, according to a statewide exit poll of 4,956 voters. He also won 63 percent of male voters.

Sabato also said ticket-splitting was common, as almost one-third of Virginians voted for at least one Republican and at least one Democrat.

Only 60 percent of Allen's voters cast a ballot for his losing running-mate for lieutenant governor, Mike Farris, Sabato said. Forty percent of Allen voters and 81 percent of Terry backers voted for Lt. Gov. Don Beyer, the only statewide Democratic winner.

by CNB