THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 30, 1994 TAG: 9408300364
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NASHVILLE, TENN. LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
Virginia Gov. George Allen said he's interested in becoming second vice chairman of the Southern Governors' Association, a post that would put him in line to chair the group during his last year in office.
The position will be decided when the group ends its three-day meeting today.
``I would be interested,'' the Republican governor said when asked about the post. He is attending his first Southern Governors' Association meeting.
Lizbeth A. Purdy, the Southern Governors' Association acting executive director, said Allen's selection is ``a possibility.''
Allen would follow in the footsteps of his three Democratic predecessors, who headed regional or national governors' organizations.
Govs. Charles S. Robb and L. Douglas Wilder were chairmen of the 60-year-old Southern Governors' Association. Gov. Gerald L. Baliles led the National Governors' Association.
Seventeen Southern states and the territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands make up the Southern Governors' Association.
Of the mainland governors, 14 are Democrats and three are Republicans.
Wilder and Democratic Gov. Zell Miller of Georgia have been the most recent chairmen. Republican Kirk Fordice of Mississippi will succeed Miller Tuesday and Democrat Mel Carnahan of Missouri will take over next year.
If installed as second vice chairman, Allen would move up to the chairmanship at the annual meeting in two years.
The chairman sets the Southern Governors' Association lobbying and issues agenda for the following year.
Health care and prisons are chief among the concerns of the 11 governors meeting in Nashville.
Tennessee Gov. Ned McWherter, host for the meeting, set aside Monday afternoon for a closed-door meeting where federal mandates were to be a hot topic.
The governors also are finding time for golf, a black-tie dinner and a concert by country and western singer Marty Stuart. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Gov. George Allen would follow in the footsteps of his three
Democratic predecessors.
by CNB