THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 9, 1994 TAG: 9411090478
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LISE OLSEN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Senator Charles S. Robb owes his victory to African-Americans.
Without black voters, Oliver L. North would be Virginia's new senator, according to an exit poll of 1,500 Virginia voters taken at 44 precincts around the state on Tuesday.
North garnered 50 percent of the support of white voters, compared to Robb's 38 percent. But African-Americans made up the difference for the incumbent, wiht 86 percent casting their ballots for Robb.
North also lost potential support because of the candidacy of J. Marshall Coleman, an independent who attracted votes from many Republicans. Forty-four percent of Coleman's supporters described themselves as Republicans, who otherwise might have voted for North. Only 14 percent of his supporters called themselves Democrats.
Nationally, this year's Congressional races have been viewed as a sort of referendum on President Bill Clinton. By a small margin, voters said they did not approve of Clinton's performance.
But 47 percent of the Virginia voters in the poll said Clinton's performance was not a factor in their decision. That compares to 29 percent - primarily North supporters - who said they considered their vote a move against Clinton; another 22 percent said their vote was in favor of the president.
The poll was conducted by Mitofsky International, a polling firm hired by news media from around the nation.
An overwhelming majority - 68 percent - said they valued experience over a new face - Virginians apparently aren't joining the national ``throw-the-bums out'' movement.
Voters said the most important factors they considered were their candidate's stand on issues, and his opponent's character and ethics. Voters said they considered crime, education and family values the most important issues in this election.
Robb's supporters overwhelmingly condemned North's conduct in the Iran-Contra affair: 74 percent said they thought he did the wrong thing. Predictably, 81 percent of those who voted for North said he did the right thing.
North had slightly more support from voters over 50, from Republicans and from voters who described themselves as born-again Christians, the poll showed. North also got slightly more support than Robb among the Generation X set: Voters 18 to 29.
Robb and North both had strong support from middle-class white voters. North had a slight edge among older candidates.
Robb had stronger support from women, middle-aged voters and voters in lower income brackets.
But both candidates had strong detractors. Overall, 40 percent of the voters in the poll described themselves as voting against a candidate, and nearly two-thirds of Coleman voters said they were casting a vote against either Robb or North, rather than in favor of Coleman.
Both candidates got some support from voters who normally chose another party: 8 percent of North supporters described themselves as Democrats;
Interesting, voters seemed to like Robb more as a senator than as a person. Nearly half said they approved of the way Robb is handing his job as Senator, but far fewer said they consider him a ``credit to the U.S. Marines.''
In fact, 31 percent of all voters said neither Robb nor North was a credit to the Marines, in which both served. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
STAFF
WHO BACKED WHOM...
SOURCE: Poll of 1,500 Virginia voters statewide. Poll was conducted
by Mitofsky International. The margin of error is at least 3
percentage points. Some percentages do not add to 100 due to
rounding.
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE VIRGINIA CANDIDATES RESULTS
POLLS by CNB