Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 9, 1995 TAG: 9503090083
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
For two decades, Elliot Schewel was a calming presence in an increasingly contentious General Assembly - a silver-haired gentleman who spoke softly but did not hesitate to take liberal stands unpopular in his conservative district.
But the Lynchburg Democrat's announcement Wednesday that he will retire from the state Senate unleashed a torrent of political hyperbole of the sort he has always tried to avoid.
Republicans immediately declared that Schewel had been scared off by the threat of a stiff re-election challenge this fall and claimed that his seat - which includes Bedford and Bedford County - was virtually theirs.
``We'd have to do something pretty silly to fail to win that seat,'' said Scott Leake, director of the Republican legislative caucus in the General Assembly.
At least two Republicans quickly asserted their interest in their party's nomination - Lynchburg Del. Steve Newman and former congressional candidate Charles Judd.
Democrats relished the prospect of a battle for the GOP nomination, while admitting they didn't have anyone lined up to succeed Schewel. Some were so astonished by Schewel's retirement they were at a loss for words. ``I'll probably start to cry if I start to talk about it,'' said Richmond lobbyist Susan Swecker, a former Democratic operative who once worked for Schewel.
Schewel's retirement puts more than his district at risk this fall. It could also improve the Republicans' chances of winning control of the legislature. Democrats hold only a 22-18 majority in the Senate, and party leaders have been pressuring some older members in GOP-dominated districts not to retire in such a volatile election year.
One of those Democrats pondering retirement is Schewel's seatmate, Madison Marye of Shawsville, who acknowledged that Schewel's retirement makes his decision more difficult. ``I don't believe this could add to the pressure,'' Marye chuckled. ``The pressure is already there.''
Schewel said he was sorry to put fellow Democrats in such a bind. ``I was very sad today after I made my announcement. I called some of my colleagues in the Senate last night and told them. I felt I was almost a traitor for leaving them, given the precarious balance of power in the Senate.''
Schewel said the prospect of opposition had ``not one iota'' to do with his retirement. Instead, he cited age - he's 70 - as the main reason. ``I purchased a very beautiful and fine briefcase when I first went to the legislature. Now after 20 years, my briefcase has worn out, and so have I.''
Schewel is chairman of the Education and Health Committee, sits on the Finance Committee that handles the state budget, heads two study committees and is vice chairman of another.
``I found myself going to Richmond twice a week,'' Schewel said. ``It's just gotten to me. Also, this last session was easily the most grueling session I can remember.''
Schewel said he began pondering retirement before the session began, but friends suspected the partisan wrangling this year helped seal his decision. ``He's not conducive to that kind of government,'' Swecker said.
Instead, Schewel was one of the assembly's quieter, more serious-minded, members. ``When he speaks, he does not speak lightly,'' said state Democratic Party spokeswoman Gail Nardi. Even Republicans expressed their admiration. ``He was a punctilious in observing an old-school courtesy,'' said former state Sen. Ray Garland of Roanoke. ``He always behaved as a true gentleman.''
The former president of the Schewel Furniture Co. chain, Schewel was regarded as tight-fisted with the state budget but a liberal on social issues.
Garland said Schewel's business background and personal demeanor enabled him to ``camouflage a rather pure liberalism. He persuaded a rather conservative community that he was their kind of guy.''
Schewel led the fight against bills that would mandate prayer in public schools, calling them unconstitutional. Yet one of his most controversial actions came in the mid-1980s when the Rev. Jerry Falwell was seeking tax-exempt status for some of Liberty University's properties.
Many Democrats opposed giving Falwell a tax break, but Lynchburg's business community feared that Falwell would move his entire operation - one of the city's big employers - to Atlanta without it. Schewel came to Falwell's aid.
``That was vintage Elliot Schewel,'' said Lynchburg Democratic Chairwoman Mary Margaret Cash. ``Schewel supported that legislation, even though Jerry Falwell opposed him in every election. [Schewel] obviously put the community first.''
Schewel also made his Senate colleagues uncomfortable by pushing for stronger ethics legislation. But his search for fairness also led him to write the first grievance procedure for state employees.
Marye said he'll remember his deskmate as ``principled.''
``That's what I admire about him more than anything,'' Marye said. ``More than once, he influenced me to do the right thing.''
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB