ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 1, 1996 TAG: 9610010049
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER AND TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITERS
NOTE: Above
Albemarle County lawyer George Landrith says he's committed to taking his conservative values to Congress.
So committed, in fact, that the father of five reported earning virtually no income over the past 16 months because he's been spending his time practicing politics.
So committed that In the past two years he's almost wiped out he and his wife's savings and says they'll be ``down to zero'' by mid-November.
He formed a political action committee last year to help Republican candidates, but used almost a third of the money the PAC raised to pay for health insurance for himself, his wife, and their children.
Is the 35-year-old Landrith - this year's Republican candidate for the 5th District seat in Congress being vacated by the retirement of Democrat L.F. Payne - worried that he's mortgaged his family's future?
``It is risky and it makes both me and my wife nervous, but it's something we're very committed to,'' he said. ``It's fairly typical that people who are committed devote both body, soul and bank account. I don't have a lot to put into it, because I'm not rich. I don't live in a rich neighborhood, I don't live in a big, palatial home, I've never bought a new car in my life.
``But what I have I'm willing to devote to the cause because I believe our children's future is worth it.''
So how is he putting food on the table for his kids?
Landrith, who lives in a $150,000 house in a middle-class neighborhood and describes himself as a hard-working average guy trying to make ends meet, says he and his family have been living off savings for the past two years - about $50,000 worth.
``In 14 years of marriage, we've saved money almost religiously. I've always viewed it as paying yourself. We pay our taxes, we pay our bills, we pay our church, and pay ourselves so to speak, by putting some money in the bank.''
Landrith also says his finances were buoyed significantly by a $50,000 to $60,000 inheritance left to him by an uncle.
``That wasn't the only source'' of savings, Landrith said. ``I've been a very good saver my whole life. The only thing I borrowed money for my whole life is to buy my house. I have always bought used cars and paid for them upfront.''
Last year, when he wasn't a candidate, Landrith says his law practice didn't make a profit. His financial disclosure reports show his only earned income in 1995 was $3,028 he made as an appointed member of the Albemarle County School Board. He also reported between $1,404 and $4,700 in unearned income from stocks and other assets - for a total income last year of between $4,432 and $7,732.
This year, with his School Board appointment expired, he reported no earned income at all from January to May. He reported between $5,204 and $16,400 in unearned income.
Landrith says a good deal of his time last year - sometimes as much as 40 hours a week - was spent campaigning for Republican General Assembly candidates in the congressional district that includes Bedford, most of Bedford County, and Franklin County.
His own unsuccessful 1994 campaign against Payne brought him $40,000 in debts.
Landrith says he set up Virginians for a Conservative Majority, the political action committee, to help elect conservative Republicans to the General Assembly.
The PAC raised about $10,000, most of which came from five contributors.
About 30 percent of the money was spent on health insurance for Landrith and his family, and the rest was spent for overhead costs, such as renting an office, staff salary and other bills.
Bruce Meadows, the secretary for the state Board of Elections, said he's never heard of a PAC paying for the health insurance of a candidate and his family, but it's not against state law.
``It's a large, large stretch, but it's not illegal,'' he said. ``I've seen expenditures for things like a candidate's wardrobe and things of that nature, but, getting as personal as your health care, I haven't seen it.''
Landrith's PAC didn't donate any of the money it raised to General Assembly candidates, but that's not unusual. This year, U.S. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., criticized his rival for the GOP nomination, Jim Miller, for using 80 percent of his PAC's money last year to pay staff members instead of helping General Assembly candidates as Miller had promised.
``If our whole goal was to raise money to give to candidates, the whole project would have been a failure,'' said Greg Mourad, who headed Landrith's 1994 campaign and was the sole employee of Landrith's PAC. ``It existed to recruit conservative candidates and help them in technical ways. George went down and did fund-raisers for them. We put them in touch with the grass-roots organizers we had trained and we shared mailing lists.''
Landrith acknowledges that his PAC paid for health insurance for himself and his family, but he says he spent about $5,000 of his own money, without reimbursement, for unreported PAC expenses such as the phone bill.
As a gesture to the General Assembly candidates he was trying to help, Landrith says he didn't ask for reimbursement from the PAC.
Landrith says he drew no salary from the PAC. He says the main reason he added his family to its health insurance was to lower the monthly premium for Mourad.
Tom Beach, who owns a medical-supply business in Bedford County, was the PAC's largest contributor. He stands behind Landrith.
``A lot of times people have a tendency to be cynical, to say they just say that and do that to get in Congress and get the power and perks, but George is genuinely concerned about some of the things going on in the country.''
Scott Goodman, a lawyer from Charlottesville who contributed to the PAC, says: ``I have total faith in him. I know he's been active as hell working for those people night and day for the last three years, not just his own race but speaking for others, too.''
Some 5th District voters have a different opinion.
``I think that in general, when people think about PACs, they have a negative reaction to it,'' said Gene Grey, a retired college professor from Huddleston. ``I think people generally feel that they're used for purely political and even personal purposes and that sometimes they're misused.
``If someone's working for the PAC, on the surface, it would seem reasonable to provide benefits to that person and that would include health insurance, but to take that a bit further for his own family and for his own gain, I think it's a bit of a stretch.''
Of Landrith, Bedford County nurse Thais Barnett said: ``He can go on welfare, maybe. He's got two years. I don't know if that's an option for him. I don't feel sorry for him.
``If he thinks it's a big enough risk and he can win and get that big-bucks salary, I say go for it. Hopefully, he's running for the right reasons and not the big paycheck.''
Landrith says his time and money spent working for his PAC were worth far more than the amount the PAC paid for the health insurance.
``If you look at the PAC, and the nature of how we ran it and how we did our fund raising, it's clear that we weren't trying to make money for me.''
WHERE LANDRITH'S PAC MONEY WENT
In 1995, George Landrith set up a political action committee for the stated purpose of helping elect like-minded people to the General Assembly.
"Virginians for a Conservative Majority has one job . . . to elect conservatives," he wrote in a Feb. 21, 1995 fund-raising letter.
But the biggest chunk of money the PAC raised went to pay for health insurance for Landrith, his family, and one staff member. None went to legislative campaigns, although it's often common for PACs to contribute services, rather than money.
Total raised: $9,809
Total spent: $9,118
The PAC's biggest expenses:
Health insurance: $2,839 31%
Salary and payroll taxes: $2,395 26%
Office supplies: $2,041 22%
Rent $710 8%
Source: Campaign finance reports filed with State Board of elecctions
THE PRICE OF POLITICS
Republican congressional candidate George Landrith reports making less than $10,000 last year, most of that from income from stocks and a part-time seat on the Albemarle County school board - none from his law practice.
How come? He says he's spent so much time practicing politics last year, even though he wasn't a candiate himself, that he's had little time to practice law - and has supported himself and his family by spending virtually all of his life's savings.
Here's what financial disclosure reports show about his 1995 income, and that of Democrat Virgil Goode:
GOODE: LANDRITH:
1995
Earned - $24,000 (state Senate pay) Earned - $3,028 (school board member pay)
$15,500 (law practice) $0 (law practice)
*Unearned - $10,310 to $33,500 Unearned - $1,404 to $4,700
Total: $49,810 to $73,000 Total: $4,432 to $7,728
*Income from assets such as stocks. Federal disclosure law requires the candidates to list their unearned income based on low and high estimates instead of an exact value amount.
#SOURCE:Federal campaign disclosure forms.
LENGTH: Long : 168 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS CONGRESSby CNB