ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 6, 1996 TAG: 9611060053
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Incumbents captured their 10 districts, as Democrats maintained their 6-5 advantage in Virginia's congressional delegation. Democratic state Sen. Virgil Goode easily defeated Republican George Landrith and Independent Tex Wood in the 5th District, the only open seat.
Democratic Rep. Owen Pickett garnered 65 percent of the vote in easily turning back a challenge from John Tate in the 2nd District - Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
Other winning incumbents were Democrats Rick Boucher in the 9th, Robert "Bobby" Scott in the 3rd, Norman Sisisky in the 4th and Jim Moran in the 8th. Republican Reps. Thomas Bliley in the 7th, Bob Goodlatte in the 6th, Frank Wolf in the 10th and Tom Davis in the 11th also won new terms.
Davis faced an aggressive campaign from Thomas Horton but turned back the challenge by a ratio of more than 2-to-1.
Wolf was challenged for a second time by Democrat Robert L. Weinberg, who lost by a 2-to-1 ratio in 1988 and trailed 3-to-1 Tuesday.
Moran faced political newcomer John Otey, who ran as a conservative Republican in the heavily Democratic Arlington-Alexandria district. Moran had nearly 70 percent of the vote.
In the 7th District, Bliley ran a low-key campaign for a ninth term. Democrat Roderic Slayton criticized Bliley's strong support of tobacco, but Bliley won with more than 80 percent of the vote.
Scott, Virginia's first black congressman in this century, overwhelmed Republican Elsie Goodwyn Holland by racking up more than 80 percent of the vote.
Sisisky and Republican Tony Zevgolis staged a rematch of their 1992 race that Sisisky won with 68 percent of the vote in the 4th District. This time around, Sisisky garnered 77 percent of the vote.
Republican Rep. Herbert Bateman of the 1st District had no opponent.
Bliley holds the highest profile among Virginia's House members. When the Republicans took control of Congress in 1994, he took over as chairman of the House Commerce Committee, which under the Democrats had waged war on the tobacco industry. Bliley shut down the tobacco hearings and has been a staunch defender of the tobacco industry, which employs more than 10,000 people in the Richmond area.
Wolf emphasized his reputation for focusing on the concerns of the many federal employees who live in his district, part of which encompasses the Washington suburbs.
In the 2nd, home to the Norfolk Navy Base, Republican Tate went door-to-door telling people in the military-dominated region that Pickett, a Democrat, had supported cuts to the military and to veterans programs. Pickett, a popular incumbent even though his district is heavily Republican, said his constituents knew better than that.
Scott won his seat in the majority black district in 1992, but Republicans have challenged the legality of the district in federal court. His opponent was an assistant school principal whom Gov. George Allen appointed to the University of Virginia Board of Visitors in 1994.
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