ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 7, 1996 TAG: 9602070069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE AND TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITERS
ROCKY MOUNT'S unpredictable Democrat said Tuesday that he's running for the House of Representatives this fall, and many appear to be rallying behind him.
He refused to publicly endorse a fellow Democrat in a House of Delegates race last year, and he orchestrated a historic power-sharing agreement that benefited his Republican counterparts in the state Senate in January.
Tuesday, Sen. Virgil Goode made his next move.
The homespun lawyer from Rocky Mount stepped in front of Democrats and asked for their support, announcing that he's seeking the party's nomination for the congressional seat being vacated by Rep. L.F. Payne, D-Nelson County. Payne announced Monday that he's retiring at the end of this year's session.
Goode pledged that he'll "take Virginia values to Washington."
"It is the people in the stores and farms, on the sidewalks and in the cafes, in the factories and in the homes. ... These are the citizens whose votes, help and support I am asking for," he said.
Goode, whose conservative brand of politics has often put him at odds with fellow General Assembly Democrats but has endeared him to Southside voters, vowed to protect tobacco interests, defend Medicare and support a federal balanced-budget amendment.
Some expected that many heavy-hitting Democrats might be peeved at Goode's actions in recent months.
But party loyalty can smooth over a lot of ill will.
Virtually all of the Democratic state legislators whose districts overlap Payne's sprawling 5th District are backing Goode in his bid for Congress. The list includes Sen. Louise Lucas of Portsmouth, who offered the strongest criticism of Goode's support of a plan to give Republicans an equal share of committee assignments and chairmanships in the state Senate. Goode pushed his plan as a gesture of fairness - there are 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans in the Senate.
Most Democratic senators wanted to endorse a plan that would have kept all the chairmanships in Democratic hands.
"Virgil is a Democrat, and he can be elected," said Lucas, who attended Goode's news conference Tuesday. "I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, and I'd rather have someone in Congress wearing a Democratic uniform than no one at all."
Local party leaders across the 5th District also appear to be behind Goode.
"Virgil's the strongest candidate," said Albemarle County Democratic Chairman William Harvey. "I think Democrats across the district will rally behind him."
Several lawmakers said they agreed at a Monday night meeting in Richmond to back Goode, hoping the quick show of support would dissuade other Democrats from seeking the seat. Goode is the first Democrat to declare his candidacy for the seat.
"The reason we did it today is so that all the weekly newspapers [in the congressional district] would carry Virgil's announcement alongside of the story about L.F. Payne's [retirement]," said Del. Watkins Abbitt, D-Appomattox County.
Should Goode win the nomination, GOP political consultant Ray Allen predicted that Republicans will try to link Goode to President Clinton, who is unpopular in the 5th District.
Goode declined to mention Clinton by name when asked if he backs the president's re-election bid. "I intend to support the nominee of the Democratic convention, which will be held in August," he said.
But Democrats - and some Republicans - feel that Goode is a perfect fit for the mostly rural 5th District, which stretches from Charlottesville to Halifax County and includes Bedford, Franklin, Henry and Patrick counties and the cities of Martinsville and Bedford.
"Virgil's a shoo-in," said former state Sen. Elliot Schewel, a Lynchburg Democrat who served with Goode in the state legislature for more than two decades.
Goode's mind-boggling stranglehold in Southside was apparent in his unsuccessful bid to wrest the Democratic nomination away from U.S. Sen. Charles Robb in a 1994 primary.
Goode, on his home turf of Southside, excited people so much that almost half the registered voters in Franklin County turned out to vote - an unheard-of figure in a party primary - and they voted overwhelmingly for Goode. He beat Robb 7,974 to 511 in Franklin County, a margin of 15-to-1.
Rhett Walker, who worked for the Goode campaign in 1994 and later worked for Robb, said Goode has a tremendous amount of strength in rural areas.
"Is he seen as overly partisan? Obviously not - but that's not necessarily bad in the 5th District," said Walker, now a political consultant in Richmond.
Franklin County Republican Chairman Carthan Currin knows Goode is going to be a tough man to beat.
Currin said he has yet to decide if he'll endorse one of the three Republican candidates interested in Payne's seat so far.
Two years ago, Currin supported George Landrith, who ran an aggressive campaign but lost to Payne in a close race. "George Landrith is a fine person," said Currin, "but Virgil is a long-standing friend."
Del. Allen Dudley, R-Rocky Mount, is straddling the fence, too.
Dudley was helped by Goode's unwillingness to publicly endorse Democrat Claude Whitehead, Dudley's opponent in last year's General Assembly elections.
"Senator Goode has done a tremendous job for his district in the state Senate," Dudley said. "I think he would do a tremendous job in Congress."
Staff writer David M. Poole contributed to this report.
VIRGIL GOODE
Seeking Democratic nomination for Congress
Age: 49
Occupation: Lawyer
Residence: Rocky Mount
Personal: Wife, Lucy; daughter from previous marriage
Education: Honor graduate from University of Virginia Law School.
Political background: Elected to state Senate in 1973 at age 27; unsuccessfully sought Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in 1982 and 1994.
Goode on the issues
On the budget: "It is time for the passage of a balanced-budget amendment in Washington."
On regulating tobacco: "We need representation in Washington that will fight for our farmers and protect them from the [Food and Drug Administration]."
On Medicare: "We need representation that will fight for the security of our seniors by defending Medicare, and I will defend it."
LENGTH: Long : 133 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. State Sen. Virgil Goode, accompanied by his wife,by CNBLucy, announces his bid for the 5th Congressional District. color. KEYWORDS: POLITICS