ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 12, 1996 TAG: 9603120078
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
WHILE OPPONENT Leslie Byrne campaigned in Roanoke, the former state party leader who made his fortune in the cellular phone industry announced his candidacy.
Saying he has fresh ideas to lead the country into the high-technology 21st century, former state Democratic Chairman Mark Warner formally announced his candidacy Monday for the U.S. Senate.
``Today we will start a campaign that will ask the people of Virginia, `Are we more concerned about where we've been, or are we more concerned about where we're going?''' said Warner, a 41-year-old telecommunication mogul with a net worth estimated at $100 million.
Warner, who lives in Alexandria, said his key goal would be to foster education to ensure that children receive the high-technology skills needed to succeed in the coming century.
``These technologies will change everything from how we educate our children to how we defend our shores,'' he said.
Warner is running for the Democratic nomination against former Rep. Leslie Byrne of Falls Church. The party will hold mass meetings across the state April 13 and 15 to select delegates to the June 8 state convention in Hampton that will pick a nominee. With only two major candidates competing for delegates, it's conceivable that one could clinch the nomination outright during the caucuses.
Two Republicans are vying for the Senate seat: three-term Sen. John Warner; and Jim Miller, a former federal budget chief in the Reagan administration.
Of the incumbent Republican, Mark Warner said: ``John Warner is a senator of the Cold War. We need to be prepared for the 21st century.''
Mark Warner has been a moderate leader of the state Democratic Party for more than a decade. He was widely credited in 1989 for taking control of a disorganized gubernatorial campaign by Douglas Wilder and leading it to victory.
Warner was elected state party chairman in 1993. In 1994 he helped negotiate a truce in a feud between Wilder and U.S. Sen. Charles Robb that helped Robb win re-election.
Warner resigned as state chairman last year to concentrate on his Senate run - his first bid for public office.
A graduate of Harvard Law School, Warner is married and has three young daughters. He said the nation's top economic priority should be to balance the federal budget and, until that is accomplished, he would not support cutting middle-class taxes.
He said he supports increasing the minimum wage and is against a flat tax.
Warner pledged not to accept money from political action committees. He added that he plans to spend some of his own money campaigning, but would not say how much.
Campaigning in Roanoke on Monday, his rival for the Democratic nomination scoffed at Warner's pledge. ``He'll just write a check,'' Bryne said.
However, Byrne disputed suggestions that Warner's wealth makes him a heavy favorite for the nomination. ``As Steve Forbes proved, you have to have a message to go with your money,'' she said. ``You can't just have a lot of dough.''
Bryne spent much of the day in Roanoke campaigning before union audiences and accepted the endorsement of the Progressive Democratic Coalition, a group that has been active in Roanoke elections. ``We very strongly believe Leslie Bryne is a candidate for working people,'' said Gary Waldo, the coalition's chairman and executive director of the Roanoke Education Association.
``I know of no one else who has a 100 percent lifetime voting record for labor,'' said Marge Brotherton of Salem, who spoke for the Southwest Virginia chapter of Labor Union Women.
Bryne said she was better qualified than Warner because she has held public office and he hasn't. "I have the experience of knowing how to deal with the hard, serious issues," she said.
Staff writer Dwayne Yancey contributed to this report.
Have a question for the candidates for U.S. Senate or the House of Representatives? Let us know so we can follow up. Write Dwayne Yancey, The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 2491; fax 981-3346; or e-mail dyanceyinfi.net
MARK WARNER
Seeking Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate
Age: 41
Occupation: Telecommunication investor; owns venture-capital firm.
Residence: Alexandria.
Education: Harvard Law School.
Family: Married, three children.
Quotes: On term limits: ``Because I believe that public office is an honor and not a career, I will limit my own time in office to two terms.''
On campaign contributions: ``Because I believe that we need to restore faith in our public officeholders, I will not accept any contributions from special-interest committees in my campaign.''
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Surrounded by his daughters and student supporters,by CNBMark Warner announces his U.S. Senate candidacy Monday at Virginia
Commonwealth University. color. KEYWORDS: POLITICS CONGRESS