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

DATE: TUESDAY, March 22, 1994                   TAG: 9403220087
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

MILLER SAYS HE'S GAINING

Miller planned to hold a news conference in Richmond today with former state Attorney General Marshall Coleman and other supporters. Some of those who will appear had been backing North, said Jonathan Baron, a Miller spokesman.

State Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, had planned to decide over the weekend whether he would enter the race, but he made no comment Monday.

Some party activists have expressed dissatisfaction with Miller, who is not widely known, and North, who is best known for his felony convictions in the Iran-Contra scandal. The convictions were overturned on appeal.

But Miller got a boost last week when former President Ronald Reagan wrote a letter saying he was "getting pretty steamed" about North's comments that Reagan told him to lie to Congress about Iran-Contra. Reagan denied that he knew everything about Iran-Contra and said he never told the former Marine lieutenant colonel to lie to Congress about the arms-for-hostages deal.

North had written in his autobiography that the former president was behind the Iran-Contra deal, but he backed off that claim after Reagan wrote the letter.

The Reagan letter pushed at least a few Republicans into Miller's camp and caused others to waver in their support of North.

Daniel Warren, Gloucester County Republican chairman, said the letter convinced him to support Miller rather than North at the June 4 Republican convention. Miller is more likely to beat incumbent Democrat Charles Robb, Warren said.

"What I'm concerned with is that we will forget the intent of the exercise is to elect a Republican senator," Warren said.

Keywords:
POLITICS