Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 11, 1994 TAG: 9401120325
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Weddle, 33, also said he will neither seek re-election to the Radford City Council this May nor make a second run against U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, this fall.
Marye, a 68-year-old veteran Democratic legislator from Shawsville, said he will wait until next year to announce his plans. But he offered a word of tongue-in-cheek caution to the Republican.
``As my uncle ConfuciusCQ Marye said, `Politicians who jump the gun and come out too fast, often fall behind and finish last.'''
Quips aside, Weddle, sporting a nascent beard, said he enjoys widespread support from Republican committee chairmen and activists in the 39th District, which runs from Montgomery to Smyth counties.
The first-term Radford councilman also said he expects to have laid enough groundwork by next year to dissuade any potential GOP challengers.
Soundly defeated by Boucher 14 months ago, Weddle said he would spend the next year concentrating on expansion of his clothing stores and on his post as president of the New River Valley Economic Development Alliance.
``I do want to serve the citizens of the Southwest Virginia, that's always been my desire,'' Weddle said.
Moreover, the Virginia Tech graduate said he will help other GOP candidates for this year's congressional and U.S. Senate elections.
For instance, Weddle said he met for three hours on Thursday with Steve Fast, a Bluefield College professor who is considering a run against Boucher in the 9th District. Fast met over the weekend with the GOP leadership in Pulaski and Montgomery counties.
Weddle said Fast has the ``heart, desire and will'' to run a good race for Congress this fall. His main advice to the would-be candidate: raise money.
Boucher enjoyed a huge fund-raising advantage over Weddle on the way to winning his sixth term with 63 percent of the vote.
Weddle said he will announce members of his exploratory committee as the year progresses.
He will build and moveinto a new home in the Draper area of Pulaski County by late this year or early next year. The area is in the 39th District, unlike Radford, which is in the district represented by state Sen. Malfourd ``Bo'' Trumbo, R-Fincastle.
Weddle said the decision on whether to make a 1995 bid for the state Senate will depend upon the mood of the electorate and how his family business, Garrett's Apparel for Men, is doing.
The business, with stores in Blacksburg and Radford, had record sales in the past two years, Weddle said. He and his wife, Meg, will move the Blacksburg shop to a new location in the University Plaza shopping center, near Macado's restaurant, by March 1. They will also add a line of women's clothing.
Meg Weddle said she gave her husband some advice as he pondered his political future: ``I said, `Stay at home this year, I need you.'''
Keywords:
POLITICS
Memo: ***CORRECTION***