                                ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, March 26, 1996                TAG: 9603260083
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: B-4  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press

YOU CAN'T BLOCK PRIMARY, WARNER TELLS GOP BOSS

U.S. Sen. John Warner said Monday that the state Republican Party chairman has no legal standing in his lawsuit to block a party primary and asked a federal judge to dismiss the suit.

Pat McSweeney, the GOP chairman, and Del. Robert Marshall, R-Manassas, filed the lawsuit March 8 in U.S. District Court in Richmond, seeking to block the June 11 GOP primary.

Under state law, an incumbent can determine the means of selecting the party's nominee for his seat - either primary or convention. Warner has said for more than a year that he wanted a primary, and the party's state central committee reluctantly agreed to one.

LENGTH: Short :   26 lines
KEYWORDS: POLITICS CONGRESS

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