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

DATE: TUESDAY, July 18, 1995                   TAG: 9507180045
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

CAMPAIGN FUND GAP NARROWS

Jim Shuler turned on the fund-raising jets in June, nearly pulling even with Larry Linkous, his Blacksburg-area House of Delegates challenger. Linkous still had raised more money overall, though Shuler had more cash on hand.

Meanwhile, state Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville, continued to lag behind Republican challenger Pat Cupp in Marye's first contested race in 12 years.

Shuler, a freshman Democrat, narrowed what had been a wide gap between himself and Linkous, a Republican who is seeking to make the jump from the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors to the General Assembly.

Linkous got off to a fast start in raising money. He pulled in 40 percent of his campaign total so far in the first eight weeks after announcing. Shuler, busy with legislative matters, showed improvement in the late spring but didn't pull close to Linkous until the current campaign finance report, which stops at June 30.

Typically, campaign finance reports give an indication of how seriously the local political establishment is taking a campaign: a candidate who can't raise money usually isn't viewed as a serious contender. The money pays for signs, for advertisements, for staff and for the multitude of other costs of running a campaign.

Also typically, an incumbent enjoys a fund-raising advantage over a challenger, though that has not been the case in the Shuler-Linkous House race or the Marye-Cupp Senate contest.

The most recent reports, filed by Monday's deadline, showed Shuler had raised $9,674 from 87 contributors in June, for a campaign total of $21,018. Linkous raised $5,364 from 37 supporters for a total of $22,531.

But Linkous spent $7,242 in June, compared with $5,516 for Shuler. Shuler ended up with $1,100 more cash on hand: $8,864, compared with Linkous' $7,718. Just after Memorial Day, the beginning of the current reporting period, Linkous had twice the money on hand as Shuler.

In the 39th District Senate race, Cupp continued his overall lead in fund-raising, numbers of contributors and spending. Cupp raised $5,483 from 61 contributors in June, for a total of $17,565. Three of Cupp's nine largest June contributors were politicians. Cupp had spent $7,714 and had $9,850 in the bank on June 30.

Marye reported $5,405 raised from 35 supporters in June, for a total of $13,585. Five of his seven largest contributors were politicians. Marye had spent $5,083 and had $8,502 on hand.

Keywords:
POLITICS

by CNB