ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 22, 1996 TAG: 9605220048
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sen. John Warner has invited Democrats and independent voters to support him in next month's Republican primary as an independent poll showed the three-term incumbent well ahead of his GOP challenger.
Warner's invitation came the same day state Republican leaders renewed their pledge to challenge a federal court ruling that a Virginia law that makes primaries open to all voters is legal.
``Voting is our most precious right,'' Warner said during a campaign appearance Monday in Farmville. ``Let's get out and vote. I'm inviting all Virginians. ... A United States senator represents all Virginians. Why shouldn't they all have the right to vote?''
Warner used the Virginia law successfully to push for a primary to select the GOP Senate nominee rather than risk a contentious convention where his conservative enemies could more easily nominate Jim Miller.
Warner retains widespread popularity in Virginia, but he alienated many within his own party in 1994 when he turned his back on GOP Senate nominee Oliver North and championed independent candidate Marshall Coleman.
Warner will not address the state GOP convention on May 31-June 1 in Salem, but will sponsor a hospitality suite, he
If Warner succeeds in bringing Republicans who remain loyal to him to the polls along with supporters from outside the party June 11, he should win renomination for a fourth term easily, Monday's Commonwealth Poll indicated.
Of the 247 registered voters who said they would probably or definitely vote in the primary, 54 percent favored Warner, 27 percent favored Miller and 19 percent were undecided, the poll by Virginia Commonwealth University's Survey Research Laboratory found.
Warner's lead tightened among those who said they would definitely vote in the primary. Of 149 certain voters, 50 percent favored Warner and 34 percent favored Miller, with 16 percent undecided.
Among 83 people who identified themselves as strong Republicans who plan to vote in the primary, however, 44 percent favored Miller and 41 percent supported Warner. Fifteen percent were undecided.
Sixty-one percent of poll respondents who said they were independent or Democrats said they would vote for Warner, while 15 percent said they would support Miller. Among that group, 24 percent were undecided.
``Warner's only chance is to lure Democrats and independents into the GOP primary,'' said Vic Gresham, Miller's campaign manager. Gresham attributed Warner's lead to the fact that Warner has begun radio and television advertising while Miller has not.
The Commonwealth Poll's margin of error is 7 percentage points.
The poll also found that President Clinton leads the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, Bob Dole, by 11 percentage points in Virginia, a state that has not supported a Democrat in a presidential race in 32 years.
Of the 637 surveyed in the presidential poll, Clinton was the choice of 51 percent who said they plan to vote in the Nov. 5 general election, and 40 percent favored Dole.
Dave Johnson, executive director of the state GOP, said the poll was a wake-up call to Virginia Republicans.
``I'm not sure I believe it,'' Johnson said, ``but this shows Republicans are going to have to work to get our people into gear.''
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS CONGRESSby CNB