Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 17, 1995 TAG: 9503170029
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Virginia Republicans, itching for a legislative majority, are targeting Sen. Frank Nolen, an Augusta County Democrat who has survived for more than 20 years in what many say is the state's most Republican district.
Challengers will began lining up today as John Root, a 66-year-old Augusta County lumberman and key Republican contributor, announces his candidacy for the GOP nomination.
But to get to Nolen, Root may have to get past Emmett Hanger, a former member of the House of Delegates who lost his seat after the boundaries of his district were redrawn in 1991.
"I believe it could be a highly competitive nominating process," said Scott Leake, executive director of the joint Republican caucus.
At stake is not just who represents a district that stretches from Rockbridge County to Rockingham County, but which party controls the state Senate.
Democrats currently hold a 22-18 edge, but the entire General Assembly is up for re-election this fall, and Republicans are targeting several rural, conservative districts now represented by Democrats for possible pick-ups.
Root plans to portray Nolen as a political insider whose views are out of touch with the district, which includes Rockbridge, Highland and Augusta counties and a portion of Rockingham County.
The district also includes the cities of Lexington, Buena Vista, Staunton and Waynesboro.
Nolen's potential vulnerability started showing as the Republicans' statewide candidates bullied Democrats in the district in 1993 and 1994.
George Allen and Jim Gilmore gobbled up about three-quarters of the district's vote in 1993 in their races for governor and attorney general. Even Mike Farris, the Republicans' unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor that year, got a favorable nod from 62 percent of the district's voters.
"We knew something was brewing there," Leake said. "That makes it one of our most attractive targets. It is the most Republican district in the state held by a Democrat."
Nolen said the tendency of the district's voters to go Republican in statewide races may not carry over into the state Senate race.
"I just view it as a challenge," he said. "The district doesn't have a majority of card-carrying Republicans."
The battle could center on the abortion issue. Root and Hanger are abortion opponents; Nolen will run on an abortion-rights platform.
"I'll be running slightly left of those fellows," Nolen said.
Root, the senior partner in Blue Ridge Lumber Co., also plans to run on a pro-business plank.
"I know business," he said in a prepared statement. "I know the effects state legislation has on business."
Root is best known to Republicans for his deep pockets. "He may be the biggest Republican contributor in that part of the state," Leake said.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB