ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 14, 1995 TAG: 9512140023
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
GENERAL ASSEMBLY candidates spent more than $1.65 million in the Roanoke Valley this fall.
If you thought politicians were spending a lot of money this fall trying to get your attention, you were right.
The campaign that pitted House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell of Roanoke County against Republican challenger Trixie Averill has gone into the books as the most expensive House of Delegates campaign ever waged in Virginia.
Cranwell spent $309,305 in his successful re-election bid, and Averill spent $253,316 trying to unseat him, according to the final round of campaign finance reports, which were filed this month.
That adds up to $562,621, which easily eclipses the previous high-dollar mark of $376,662 in a three-way House race in Richmond four years ago.
Theirs wasn't the most expensive General Assembly race in the state, however. That distinction goes to the state Senate contest in the Charlottesville area, where four candidates spent a total of $602,844. In that race, Democratic challenger Emily Couric defeated Republican incumbent Ed Robb and two independents.
The Cranwell race attracted statewide attention - and statewide money - as Republicans mounted a full-scale assault on Democratic leaders who had frustrated much of Gov. George Allen's conservative agenda during his first two years in office.
But it wasn't just the races where party leaders were involved that attracted the big campaign dollars. If there's one thing that marked the 1995 campaigns for the General Assembly, it was the way the cost of campaigning soared for candidates across the board.
The campaigns in the Roanoke and New River valley were no exception:
Until this year, only six legislative campaigns in Western Virginia had ever spent more than $100,000 - and three of those were former Roanoke state Sen. Granger Macfarlane's, in 1983, 1987 and 1991. Only one candidate had spent more than $200,000 - independent Frank Longaker in a losing effort in 1991.
This year alone, eight candidates in the Roanoke and New River valleys spent more than $100,000, and a ninth came close to the six-figure mark. Of those eight, five topped the $200,000 threshold and one of those five - Cranwell - exceeded $300,000.
And that doesn't count Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, who was unopposed, but who had two statewide Republican groups funnel funds through his campaign committee to qualify for the lower advertising rates that even unopposed candidates are entitled to. He wound up spending $121,765, much of it for a generic "vote Republican" message that aired on Roanoke television stations. Likewise, Democrats channeled about $70,000 through the campaign committee for state Sen. Jack Reasor, D-Bluefield, to buy a generic "vote Democratic" television ad in Roanoke.
In all, more than $1.65 million was spent in the Roanoke Valley trying to influence voters in the General Assembly races.
In fact, a disproportionate number of the state's most expensive races were in Western Virginia. Not only was Cranwell-Averill the most expensive House race, the contest between Del. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum, D-Roanoke, and Republican challenger Newell Falkinburg was the third most costly House contest.
On the Senate side, the race that pitted incumbent Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke County, against Democrat John Edwards was the sixth most expensive Senate race in the state. And the campaign between state Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville, and Republican Pat Cupp was the seventh most expensive Senate race.
Cranwell said he wasn't surprised his race turned out to be so expensive. "Any time you have a mini-referendum on the governor, it's going to be expensive," he said. "I would have been more than happy to see a limit of $55,000." But Cranwell predicted that limiting contributions wouldn't work. "Limits on campaign contributions at the federal level have proven ineffective," he said, because donors simply give their money to campaign committees that redirect the money back to the intended candidate.
However, Cranwell predicted that the enormous cost of this year's election will turn out to be an "aberration."
Money alone wasn't enough to guarantee victory. Republicans Bell, Falkinburg and Cupp all spent more than their opponents, yet all three lost. However, donations did tend to flow toward the winners: The finance reports show that contributions to Democrats surged in the final week of the campaign, as polls showed them likely to retain control of the legislature and special-interest groups got on board.
The biggest beneficiary of "late money" in Western Virginia was Edwards, whose support crested in the final week.
Early in the campaign, Edwards was dogged by sluggish fund raising, while Bell maintained a 2-to-1 money advantage. But as Edwards' internal polls improved through the fall, so did his fund raising: He outraised Bell 2-to-1 in the final week of the campaign, and the two finished nearly even in the fund-raising department.
Where did Edwards' late money come from? Mostly from Democratic Party sources and special-interest groups often aligned with Democrats:
The state Democratic Party donated more than $25,000 worth of telemarketing time to Edwards in the final week of the campaign as it sensed an upset in the making. Edwards lent his campaign $10,000. The Washington-based Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee kicked in $7,500. And the state AFL-CIO and the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, which had made sizable donations earlier, sent smaller checks to bring their respective totals to $11,300 and $11,000.
The biggest single campaign donor in Western Virginia wasn't one of the Via brothers - Roanoke millionaires Edward and Peter Via, who made headlines for donating a total of $211,000 to Republican candidates and causes this fall.
Instead, it was a candidate. Cupp, who fell short in his bid to unseat Marye, lent his campaign $129,000 - some $65,000 of that in the closing days.
Falkinburg, who failed to defeat Woodrum, lent his campaign $35,381, while Woodrum lent his campaign $30,000.
Candidates' loans to their own campaigns often are never repaid and effectively count as contributions.
Where did all this money go? Most campaign dollars, of course, go to pay for advertising and the campaign workers and consultants who help run the campaigns.
The campaign reports, though, show some of the more mundane expenses involved in a campaign. Cranwell's report shows $375 paid to clean his campaign office, $200 for a disc jockey and $100 for two bartenders at his victory party.
Falkinburg paid $8.43 for helium, presumably to inflate balloons.
Jeff Artis, the Republican who lost to Del. Vic Thomas, D-Roanoke, spent $149.44 for Halloween candy to hand out to voters. He also spent more than $143 on pizzas to feed campaign workers.
A few campaigns even managed to wind up in the black. Thomas still has more than $40,000 in the bank, while Falkinburg's report shows a final balance of almost $31,000. Averill, though, is more typical: She's in debt, with only $7,015 in the bank and a $14,183 bill to her Richmond campaign consultant still outstanding.
Staff writers Brian Kelley and David M. Poole contributed to this report.
LENGTH: Long : 131 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Charts by staff. 1. The escalating cost ofby CNBcampaigning. color. 2. The most expensive campaigns ever. KEYWORDS: POLITICS