THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 11, 1994 TAG: 9410110331
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Grant George Sweet this much, as he stumps across the state's 4th Congressional District in search of enough Democratic converts to unseat Rep. Norman Sisisky: He has the sports vote nailed.
Sweet, a 6-foot-8-inch former basketball player, got a plug Monday from Jack Kemp, a former congressman, HUD secretary and Buffalo Bills quarterback.
Kemp appeared Monday night at a Chesapeake fund-raiser for Sweet that brought in close to $10,000 for the Republican rookie's campaign.
The talk centered as much on pigskin as politics. (Kemp said he rarely campaigns on Monday night because it's a religious holiday.)
But for Sweet, a Baptist minister waging his first political race, Kemp's visit was no game. And it marked a heightened Republican Party interest in seeing him win.
Campaign officials announced Monday afternoon that Sweet has been targeted for help by the state GOP and the Republican National Committee, meaning as much as $58,000 could be funneled into his race before the Nov. 8 election.
U.S. Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., has promised Sweet a seat on the coveted Armed Services Committee if he wins, a strong selling point for a candidate in defense-rich Hampton Roads. And Gov. George F. Allen is planning a series of radio and television ads endorsing Sweet.
But Republicans in Virginia could never hope to match the financial strength of Sisisky, who has the benefit of a $40 million resource: his wallet. The 12-year congressman is one of the richest lawmakers on Capitol Hill and has shown a willingness to finance his own campaigns.
``You show me a politician who isn't running scared, and I'll show you someone who's going to lose,'' Sisisky said last week when asked about his lack of similar fund-raising events. ``But I have a hard time asking people for money.''
At Monday's Sweet fund-raiser, held at the Greenbrier Country Club, Kemp talked little about his expected presidential run in 1996. In fact, he scoffed at the suggestion that he was campaigning for himself, not just Sweet.
``That would be rude,'' Kemp said.
``I've campaigned for more than 160 candidates this year, and I think George is one of the top five or six in terms of support and the kind of positive issues he's talking about.''
The 4th District covers Chesapeake and Suffolk, part of Portsmouth and stretches west almost to Charlottesville.
Kemp's current goal: achieving a GOP majority in the Senate and House of Representatives.
``Give me the Congress and I'll give you the White House,'' he said.
KEYWORDS: CANDIDATE CONGRESSIONAL RACE
by CNB