ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 25, 1996 TAG: 9602260111
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WILMINGTON, DEL.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Steve Forbes won Delaware's presidential primary Saturday night, handing fallen leader Bob Dole his second defeat of the week and further confounding the tangled contest for the Republican presidential nomination.
Pat Buchanan, who edged Dole in New Hampshire, ran third in Delaware, with former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander a distant fourth.
In a telephone call to cheering supporters here, Forbes said, ``I think this is going to give us a very big boost in Arizona.''
The Delaware turnout was low, yet victory provided Forbes all 12 of the state's delegates to the Republican National Convention. He called his first win after a free-spending but faltering start ``a great triumph ... the beginning of a comeback that will carry us to the nomination.''
Buchanan may benefit most from Forbes' victory. With Forbes riding some momentum into next Tuesday's primaries, Buchanan will be in a strong position to win a four-way race in the spotlight contest in Arizona.
Buchanan said that Forbes ``finally bought himself a victory in an uncontested primary'' by winning Delaware. He guessed that Forbes would draw Arizona votes away from Dole or Alexander, ``and to a lesser extent from me.''
While Dole had party leaders working in his cause, Forbes was the only top candidate who campaigned here. The other candidates were added to the ballot by state law.
President Clinton won unopposed on the Democratic ballot.
Aside from Forbes, the rest of the field honored a pledge to ignore Delaware in deference to New Hampshire's effort to have clear sailing as the first primary of 1996.
With 96 percent of Delaware's GOP precincts reporting, Forbes had 10,989 votes, or 31 percent; Dole 8,755, 27 percent; Buchanan 5,975, 18 percent; Alexander 4,286, 13 percent; Alan Keyes, 5 percent.
So far, 78 GOP convention delegates have been chosen; it will take 996 to win the nomination. Buchanan leads with 27 delegates; Forbes, 17; Dole, 16; and Alexander, 9.
Delaware voters cited pocketbook issues as they explained their primary choices: taxation was their priority concern, and half said they preferred a flat tax to the current system. Exit surveys also showed they were unconcerned about Forbes' use of his own money to run for president. More than three-quarters said it kept him free of special-interest influence.
Among Forbes supporters, a third reported family income of more than $75,000 a year, and more than half liked his flat tax proposal.
``I like his economic ideas,'' said 43-year-old Wilmington banker Doug Hazelton in explaining his vote for Forbes. ``I think the flat tax, while it has some problems, is basically a good idea.''
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS PRESIDENTby CNB