THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, April 11, 1995                TAG: 9504110307
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: NORFOLK                            LENGTH: Short :   48 lines

SEN. WALKER TO PURSUE RE-ELECTION IN 6TH DISTRICT

State Sen. Stanley C. Walker, who is completing his sixth term in office, has announced that he is running for re-election. His priorities, he said, are to improve education and economic development across the state.

Walker, a Democrat, could face Dimitrios Rerras in November. Rerras is seeking the Republican nomination for Walker's 6th District Senate seat.

Walker, 71, is president pro tem of the Senate; he leads the body when Lt. Gov. Don Beyer is absent.

First elected in 1971, Walker is also on the rules committee and is vice chairman of the finance committee. He is former chairman of the education and health committee and was the first chairman of the Virginia State Crime Commission.

``I feel I can still make a mark up here,'' Walker said from Richmond. ``There are things left to be done.''

Before his election to the Senate, Walker served in the House of Delegates from 1964 through 1971. Before that, he was a member of the Norfolk School Board.

If re-elected, Walker would target tuition and fee increases in higher education. The cuts, he said, are reducing the state's standing. He also would like to cut what he considers the disparity in funding between schools in urban and rural areas and those in wealthier suburbs.

``There are things we haven't done due to a recession and too much partisan politics,'' Walker said.

Economic development is another priority. Walker says he sees Virginia losing ground to more aggressive and organized states, such as North Carolina.

Although Walker is retired from the steel fabricating firm Standard Iron & Steel, of which he was president. he still works as a business consultant.

Walker attended Maury High School and graduated from Fork Union Military Academy in time to serve in World War II. He attended Norfolk Business College and Virginia Tech. ILLUSTRATION: Stanley C. Walker of Norfolk, a six-term state senator, would

target cuts in higher education.

KEYWORDS: CANDIDATE SENATE RACE 6TH DISTRICT by CNB