THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 16, 1994 TAG: 9409160493
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVE ADDIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
The Republican Party is dispatching some of its top national figures to Norfolk and Virginia Beach in an attempt to wrestle the 2nd District congressional seat from incumbent Rep. Owen B. Pickett.
Newt Gingrich, the voluble and combative Georgia representative, will campaign in Norfolk next week for James L. Chapman IV, the GOP challenger.
Chapman said Thursday that Gingrich, the No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives, has promised to use his influence to get Chapman a seat on the House Armed Services Committee if Chapman is elected.
Gingrich is to appear Monday at 1:30 p.m. at the Airport Hilton in Norfolk, unless his trip is pre-empted by a House vote on the invasion of Haiti. Texas Rep. Dick Armey, the No. 3 Republican in the House, will help Chapman raise money at a private reception Sunday in Virginia Beach.
Ringed by a small knot of retired military veterans, Chapman charged Thursday that Pickett has not been effective in protecting regional military installations from threats of shutdown.
Using Gate 2 of Oceana Naval Air Station as a backdrop, Chapman chided Pickett as a ``man who claims he has clout'' but could not protect the job-rich Naval Aviation Depot in Norfolk from closure. He said an aggressive stance is needed to keep Oceana from facing a similar fate in the next round of base closing in 1995.
Chapman also upbraided Pickett for failing to attend the inaugural meeting last week of Gov. George Allen's bipartisan Commission on Base Retention and Defense Adjustment, which is developing strategies to defend Virginia military installations from cutbacks.
``I will not be a sideline congressman like the one we have now,'' Chapman said. ``I won't miss important meetings when base closings are being discussed.''
Pickett's office said the base-closure meeting date had been changed twice and resulted in a schedule conflict. Pickett, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, was represented at the governor's session by a full-time staff member, his spokesman said.
Chapman is campaigning aggressively in his second attempt to unseat Pickett, who defeated him 55 percent to 45 percent in 1992. Pickett said last week that he meets with constituents on weekends, but will not begin to campaign in earnest until the House recesses in mid-October.
The two campaigns have agreed in principle to a series of debates, but no dates have been set. ILLUSTRATION: Chapman
Gingrich
KEYWORDS: U.S. SECOND DISTRICT CONGRESSIONAL RACE CANDIDATES by CNB