Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 15, 1994 TAG: 9406160025
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Robb's overwhelming victory came on the same day that his archrival, former Democratic Gov. Douglas Wilder, became the second independent to file for a place on the ballot.
With unofficial returns from 96 percent of the state's 2,136 precincts, Robb had 58 percent of the vote to 34 percent for state Sen. Virgil Goode, 6 percent for Richmond lawyer Sylvia Clute and 2 percent for Lyndon LaRouche follower Nancy Spannaus.
Robb, North and Wilder will join former Republican Attorney General Marshall Coleman in an unprecedented four-way race for the Senate.
The Virginia race would be the first Senate election in U.S. history with four major candidates, said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political analyst.
Goode conceded about 8:30 p.m. ``I want to congratulate Chuck Robb and tell him good luck in November,'' Goode told about 175 supporters at an antique-auction warehouse near his Franklin County home. Goode said he would support Robb in the general election.
He blamed his loss on lack of campaign funds and staff. ``We did a whole lot with very little,'' he said. Robb raised about 10 times as much money as Goode.
Wilder delivered two cardboard boxes of petitions to the State Board of Elections in the early afternoon. He said he gathered 34,000 signatures of registered voters, more than twice the 14,800 he needs to qualify for the ballot.
Wilder, the nation's first elected black governor, plans a campaign announcement Saturday at a picnic in the Church Hill neighborhood of Richmond where he grew up.
``There will be no turning back at all,'' said Wilder, who has wavered about seeking the seat held by his longtime rival. Wilder said last year he planned to challenge Robb, but he changed his mind just before his term as governor ended in January.
``In January, I took the view that I was tired,'' said Wilder, 63. Now, he said, he's rested and ready. ``I really feel good.''
He indicated he would run on his 25-year record in Virginia politics.
``I will put my record up against any of them,'' Wilder said. ``I don't represent myself as an outsider. I represent myself as someone who knows Virginia.''
Wilder voted in the Democratic primary but declined to say which candidate he supported. He said the outcome of the primary would not affect his campaign.
Robb, 54, was a popular governor in the 1980s, but his standing has declined amid reports that he socialized with drug users and his admission to marital indiscretions. A federal grand jury also probed his staff's involvement in leaking a taped phone call between Wilder and a supporter. Three former Robb aides pleaded guilty to minor charges, but Robb was not indicted.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB