ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, July 27, 1996 TAG: 9607300036
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press RICHMOND
State Sen. Mark Earley of Chesapeake, the legislature's leading advocate of a parental notification abortion law, says he will seek the Republican nomination for attorney general next year.
Also seeking the nomination are state Sen. Kenneth Stolle of Virginia Beach and Gil Davis, a Northern Virginia lawyer who represents Paula Jones in her sexual harassment suit against President Clinton.
``Ken is a friend of mine, and we will conduct the campaign on a high ground,'' Earley said Thursday. ``I think I bring an immediate edge because of my seniority in the Senate.''
Earley was elected in 1987, Stolle in 1991.
Stolle was out of town and unavailable for comment.
Earley, 42, said two recent developments influenced his decision to run: former federal prosecutor Richard Cullen's withdrawal from the race, and the party's decision to choose the nominee in a primary rather than a convention.
``Those two decisions shuffled the deck and put it back to square one as far as it being an open race,'' he said.
Earley said his longtime advocacy of parental notification should be a plus.
``First of all, polls show that up to 75 percent of Virginians favor parental notification,'' he said. ``Second, it's clear that when I grab onto something because I believe in it, I'm not going to let it go.''
Abortion opponents for years have tried, unsuccessfully, to get a parental notification abortion law on the books. Earley tried a variety of maneuvers to get such a bill passed late in the last legislative session.
Parental notification would require doctors to notify parents or guardians before performing an abortion on an unmarried girl under age 18.
Earley said his priorities as attorney general would be building on the professionalism instilled by Attorney General Jim Gilmore and defending the welfare, sentencing and juvenile justice reforms pushed through by Gov. George Allen's administration.
``Those reforms will come under attack in the courts. I want to be sure we have an attorney general there willing to protect the gains we've made during the last four years,'' Earley said.
Earley said he had not begun raising money for his campaign and was unsure how much money he would need.
No Democrats have announced for the office, but potential candidates include Northern Virginia lawyer Bill Dolan, who lost to Gilmore in 1993, and state Dels. Tom Jackson of Hillsville and Jerrauld Jones of Norfolk.
LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS ATTORNEY GENERALby CNB