ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996 TAG: 9609160105
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DANVILLE
SOURCE: Associated Press
L.F. Payne Jr., retiring after eight years in Congress, is expected to announce Monday he will run for lieutenant governor, said a group supporting his run for office.
The 50-year-old Democrat from Nelson County has scheduled morning announcements in Lovingston and at the state capitol in Richmond, said the Friends of L.F. Payne.
The group said Payne will formally declare his candidacy for the 1997 race for the state's second highest elective office, the first Democratic candidate to do so. Former Virginia Education Secretary James Dyke is also considering a bid for lieutenant governor.
Since May, Democrats have been mobilizing to persuade Payne to run for statewide office. And Payne has spent several months traveling the state in an effort to gauge support for a possible run.
Payne, who represents the 5th District, which runs from Charlottesville to Danville and includes Bedford and Franklin counties, announced his retirement from Congress in February. He was first elected to Congress in 1988.
More than 90 of the state's 130 Democratic Party chairmen have endorsed Payne for the nomination, as have 18 of Virginia's 20 Democrats in the state Senate. Lt. Gov. Don Beyer, who is set to run for governor next year, also supports Payne for the nomination.
LENGTH: Short : 36 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS: LT. GOVERNORby CNB