THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 3, 1995 TAG: 9503030392
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
Former federal budget chief James C. Miller III announced Thursday that he will oppose incumbent John W. Warner for the 1996 Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate.
Miller made a surprisingly strong showing last year in an unsuccessful campaign for the GOP Senate nomination against Oliver L. North.
In a four-page letter mailed this week to GOP activists across the state, Miller denounced Warner for being disloyal to the Republican Party.
In 1993, Warner refused to endorse Michael P. Farris, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor. Last year, Warner dismissed North as a liar and strongly backed an independent candidate for the Senate.
Miller said that Warner's actions were instrumental in the narrow defeats of Farris and North by Democrats in the general elections.
``Senator Warner's disloyalty to the Republican Party and our nominees must not go unchallenged,'' he said.
Miller, 52, said he had planned to wait until November to announce his candidacy but was forced to accelerate his schedule in the wake of Warner's aggressive campaigning.
Former President George Bush is scheduled to appear at a Richmond fund-raising dinner for Warner April 10.
Miller accused Warner of breaking a recent promise by future Republican statewide candidates not to conduct campaign activities that could interfere with the fund-raising efforts of GOP legislative candidates up for election this fall.
Warner, first elected to the Senate in 1978, welcomed Miller's challenge.
``The more the merrier,'' he said, laughing. He said half of the proceeds from his fund-raiser with Bush will go to GOP legislative candidates this year.
``I haven't broken my pledge at all,'' he said.
Warner noted that Miller presented him with an award last month on behalf of Citizens for a Sound Economy for a ``perfect'' voting record on fiscal matters.
Miller is a former chairman of the public interest group. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Miller
KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE VIRGINIA 1996 REPUBLICAN
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