ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, May 17, 1996 TAG: 9605170064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON and RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITERS
WHAT HAD BEEN a quiet contest for the Republican nomination for Congress in the 5th District has erupted into a brawl that some fear could threaten party unity at Saturday's convention.
Defamation, divisiveness and defeat are not the words that 5th District Republicans wanted to talk about the week before the party's convention to nominate a congressional candidate.
Memories of 1988 are rushing back: That was the year when Republicans fought among themselves after a nomination battle between Linda Arey and Onico Barker. The Democrats and their candidate, L.F. Payne, later walked away with the 5th District seat.
This year, an 11th-hour tactic by GOP candidate Frank Ruff has set off a debate about where the party will stand after Saturday's congressional district convention in Bedford County.
George Landrith, an Albemarle County lawyer who lost to Payne two years ago, is again the solid front-runner for the Republican nomination and is expected to cruise to a win over Ruff on Saturday, most party leaders say.
Ron Buchanan, a Campbell County businessman also is running for the GOP nomination. Saturday's winner will face state Sen. Virgil Goode, a Democrat from Rocky Mount, in the November election to succeed Payne, who is retiring.
But Ruff, who got his campaign off to a late start because of his responsibilities as a state legislator, has slammed his campaign into overdrive in a last-minute push to woo ballot-casters and pull off an upset at the convention.
The Mecklenburg County furniture-store owner isn't subscribing yet to the theory that Landrith is the shoo-in Republican candidate.
He says his campaign "has tracked a lot of movement our way" in the past few weeks.
Ruff also stands firmly behind the decision to send out an in-Landrith's-face mailing earlier this month to party members and reporters across the sprawling 5th District. The district stretches from Charlottesville south to Mecklenburg County and west to Patrick County, and includes Franklin County and most of Bedford County.
The packet of information - which has generated much discussion - tells party members when, where, why and how Landrith lost a defamation suit last year.
Landrith was sued by Jennifer Adams, a high school secretary in Page County, after Landrith wrote a letter about her to the county's school superintendent in November 1993.
Landrith had been hired by a Shenandoah man, Robert K. Hockman, who wanted to investigate the possibility that Adams had viewed his school records.
In the letter, Landrith asserts that Adams looked at the records (something that was never proven), and he writes: "In many jurisdictions, Ms. Adams' actions would subject her to immediate dismissal. Simply put, Ms. Adams' actions were not only unethical, but illegal."
Adams sued Landrith for libeling her and a Page County jury awarded her $2,000 last year. She had asked for $200,000.
Ruff says he thinks the episode shows Landrith's lack of judgment and maturity.
"This is a matter of public record," Ruff said. "And if something's public record, then I think most people feel it's a debatable issue. These facts are going to come out one way or the other."
But those facts don't seem to be changing the minds of many Landrith supporters, and Ruff's use of the lawsuit is provoking strong responses from a few.
"I think it's kind of petty," says Tom Beach, a convention delegate from Bedford County. "Sure, it'd be different if one of the candidates found out someone goes out every Saturday and puts on a red wig and kills old women or rapes livestock. But just because somebody makes a wrong business decision ... that's life. That's what happens in business."
Says Marty Middleton of Charlottesville: "That's just typical of [Ruff campaign consultant] Boyd Marcus and that crew. You'll notice the [mailings] don't come from Ruff's hometown; they all come from Richmond. I don't have anything against Ruff. I just think George Landrith is by far the best candidate."
However, John Dawson, a convention delegate from Albemarle County, says that although he's supporting Landrith, the defamation suit is a legitimate political attack by Ruff. "It's public information, and it's up to the other campaign to make everybody aware of it if they want to win. It hasn't turned me against George, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a handful of delegates that have softened," he said.
Landrith shrugged off the most recent publicity over the lawsuit.
The story isn't new, he said. It was mentioned in Charlottesville-area newspapers months ago.
Landrith, through a Page County school attorney, said he apologized to Jennifer Adams prior to her filing of the lawsuit.
"That wasn't good enough for her," he said. "She wanted $200,000."
Adams had little to say when contacted this week. "It's over, and I'd really rather let it lie," she said.
Landrith also criticized Boyd Marcus, Ruff's campaign guru - the best-known, and perhaps the most controversial, Republican operative in Virginia. Marcus masterminded George Allen's successful run for the governorship, but he also is known within GOP circles as "the Prince of Darkness" for the rough-and-tumble campaign tactics he sometimes employs in nomination battles.
"Boyd is a professional consultant, and he doesn't care about the party's health. He cares about his financial health," Landrith said. "When there's a divided party, he makes more money, but when we're united and when there's no fighting going on, he doesn't make money."
Paul Steube, former Republican chairman in Halifax County, said political hired guns like Marcus are overstaying their welcome.
"We all think these campaigns know what they're doing, and they don't. It's bad for these consultants to be the engine of Virginia politics."
Steube said it has become the practice of most consultants to "throw in a grenade, slam the door, and run."
However, Marcus said ethical consultants provide choices and let candidates make the final decisions.
In Ruff's case, the decision to use the defamation suit as a campaign tactic hinged on electability - and not how much money was in it for a consultant, Marcus said.
Ruff, if nominated, could concentrate on the issues, while Landrith will have to continue to defend himself, Marcus said.
The Landrith-Ruff contest will be played out Saturday with a number of local political battles still making waves.
Several local Republican chairmen - including Steube - have been defeated or faced challenges this year. One of the main reasons: local Republican parties are drawing sides over ideology, personified by GOP U.S. Senate candidates John Warner and Jim Miller. Many conservatives are rallying around Miller, and moderates are defending Warner.
The situation is such that two men from Franklin County will attend Saturday's convention claiming to be the county's GOP chairman.
Randy Huckaba, with the help of a number of proxy votes, defeated incumbent chairman Carthan Currin in April.
Currin, who says he was ousted because he backs Warner, is appealing to the 5th District Republican Committee because he believes the use of proxies at a mass meeting are illegal. He lost a local appeal.
Chances for a political bloodbath aside, party leaders said it is essential that Republicans emerge from the convention united.
"The important thing," Ruff said, "is to remember that we must keep a majority in Congress."
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