Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 25, 1995 TAG: 9509250004
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG LENGTH: Long
In 1988, at age 23, Steve Newman looked around and didn't see anyone in local politics with his conservative, Republican values.
So he ran for Lynchburg City Council.
And won. Against an older, more experienced candidate with much more support.
A high school graduate who was also the host of a popular local talk-radio show about politics, Newman was living with his parents at the time. He was the only Republican on council.
"It was sort of a shock," said Dan McDermott, Newman's campaign manager then. "But then, Steve's always been underestimated."
"It takes a large ego to do that. He's smart politically," said former Lynchburg Vice Mayor Pat Lovern, who ran unsuccessfully against Newman for the House of Delegates in 1992. "I don't think we've seen anything like that in years. I expect he's consulted on anything the Republicans [in Lynchburg] do now."
Seven years later, all but one member of Lynchburg City Council is a Republican. Most of the constitutional offices belong to Republicans. And after two terms as the youngest current member of the House of Delegates, Newman, who never finished college, is running for the state Senate seat held by retiring Democrat Elliott Schewel.
"I'm young, but I've got a lot of miles on me," Newman said recently at his direct-mail business in Lynchburg. "The Lord's been good to me and given me a lot of opportunities people my age don't usually get. I feel that I never could have gotten a better education in my life than my public service."
Newman's critics make a lot of noise, however, about his private education at a religious high school run by the Rev. Jerry Falwell. Democrats say he represents the elite and wealthy. But he started out living in a trailer park.
"We had one car, a [Plymouth] Fury, and the transmission didn't work," he recalled. "Dad worked two or three jobs to send me [to the private school]." His father is now a pastor with a prison ministry.
It's that background, devoted to family and hard work, Newman says, that gave him his legislative outlook. One of his successful bills forced absent parents to disclose employment and health-care information to the state Department of Social Services. One of his bills that didn't succeed would have required school guidance counselors and psychologists to get parental consent before advising students.
Business political action committees consistently give Newman high support ratings. He also has considerable support from the Christian right because of his staunch anti-abortion stand.
Though he attends Falwell's church, Newman says he isn't influenced by Falwell politically. "He's never endorsed me ... I don't think he gets involved in local politics like he does on national politics. I know him to speak to him, I think he's a decent man and I agree with his positive desire to have a more moral state."
However, McDermott, his former campaign manager, says there's no mistaking where Newman is coming from philosophically. "Steve does not make decisions by sticking his finger in the wind. He really has core beliefs. He's conservative. It's caused him to be a lightning rod for the left. All sorts of people attack him."
Curt Diemer, Newman's legislative aide, childhood friend, campaign manager and employee, puts it this way: "Falwell's the pastor at the church Steve attends, but when it comes to how Steve votes, Steve votes the way he wants and the way the Republican Party wants."
Newman now ranks among the most ardent supporters of Gov. George Allen's agenda in the General Assembly, but years ago, he had a tough time getting any help from his fellow Republicans in Lynchburg.
When he was seeking the nomination for his first run for the House of Delegates, he said, "I was an underdog, to state it lightly. I ran against no one and won the nomination by one vote. It was 22 in favor, 21 against. One guy stormed out, so I won."
That "guy" was lawyer Carroll Freeman, a former chairman of the Lynchburg Republican Party. "I thought when Steve arrived on the scene that he was much too young to assume the responsibilities he was hoping to assume, so I spoke against his nomination and then I think I walked out," Freeman said. "He was a young whippersnapper."
However, when the virtually unknown Newman ran a tight but unsuccessful race against incumbent Ted Harris, Freeman and others took notice.
"The more I looked, the more I liked what I saw," Freeman said. "I was impressed that he went so directly to the people, ringing 75 percent of the doorbells in Lynchburg, making himself known. He's perservering."
Now, Freeman is one of Newman's top supporters and often volunteers for Newman's campaigns.
For the first time, Newman finds himself in the unaccustomed position of being an incumbent with more financial support and name recognition than his opposition.
"It's different. We're used to running as the underdog," Diemer said. "But that has its positives and negatives. People think we don't have to do anything and that it's in the bag.
"But it's kind of like the rabbit and the hare story. You know how that one turned out. We can't drop our guard for a second."
Aside from a vigorous campaign schedule and door-to-door appearances, Newman seems relaxed about his chances of winning. The biggest quandary he has about the race is the possibility that he may miss the first day of the General Assembly in January.
"Our baby's due on January 8, which may be the first day of session,"he said. "It's also Elvis Presley's birthday. If that baby comes out shaking its leg, I don't know what I'm going to do ..."
In his speedy rise to power, Newman has gathered criticism for being a political opportunist and latching onto faddish issues to further his career.
Case in point: he initiated and helped to negotiate Lynchburg's no-annexation promise to Bedford County. Consolidation supporters accused him of grandstanding and trying to get his name in the news.
But Newman said: "If they want to call getting something done opportunistic, then I'm opportunistic. All I did was say, 'Guys, get together and talk about it.' If there's any responsibility for being a leader, it's being a facilitator."
Whatever his motivation, people from both sides of the fence don't see Newman stopping at the Senate.
George Caylor, a Republican and Newman's former business partner, met Newman when he was still on Lynchburg City Council. "He was the oldest 23- or 24-year-old I ever met. Very somber, very serious.
"I never met someone so focused. It was almost unnerving to meet a 24-year-old who seems to know where he's going and has an agenda for getting there."
"He's changed [Lynchburg] politics. I'm not sure he's changed much else," said Lovern, Newman's former opponent. "I think he's in this for the long term, for the rest of his life. It's what his life is about. That's probably what gives him such determination."
She added: "I would think Steve is feeling a momentum and a power, and probably within 10 years, I'd say, he'll probably consider running for governor or the House of Representatives."
"I think he'll go as far as he wants to go," McDermott said.
But Newman says he's thinking only about the state Senate. But he added: "Lieutenant governor or governor, certainly there would be opportunities there."
Freeman agreed. "If seasoning is part of the process, he's certainly going to have a long time to season, and he may well reach that height."
STEVE NEWMAN
Party: Republican
Age: 30
Occupation: Owns a direct-mail company
Residence: Lynchburg
Family: Newman's wife, Kim, a nurse, is expecting their first child in January.
WHAT THE CANDIDATE SAYS ABOUT HIS:
CORE VALUES: Newman prides himself on being tough on crime ["I don't go for all the excuses as to why people can't behave"] and nonwavering on his anti-abortion stance ["I am pro-life. I don't squish on it. No matter what you ask me, I'm pro-life."]. He supports parents' rights in schooling their children, which extends from supporting charter schools to eliminating school counseling without parental consent.
INDEPENDENCE: "I am a partisan. I do it on what I think are ideologically important issues." Newman, a fervent supporter of Gov. George Allen, said he has parted ways with the governor occasionally, like when he voted against Allen's proposed cuts to the state extension service. However, according to Allen's political action committee's "Allen Support Index," Newman voted with the Allen agenda 100 percent of the time last year on key pieces of legislation. "I do believe the governor is doing substantially what needs to be done for the good of the Commonwealth," Newman said.
VISION: Newman says state government needs to be downsized. He also supports long-term financing for prison construction, raising education standards and capping tuition increases for higher education.
Keywords:
POLITICS PROFILE
by CNB