THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 2, 1995 TAG: 9508020503
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Republican voters are deeply divided over whether to renominate U.S. Sen. John W. Warner next year even though he is a strong bet to win a fourth term against Democrats, according to a new poll.
Warner holds commanding 2-to-1 leads over two Democrats who are considering running for his Senate seat next year, according to a survey of 826 registered Virginia voters conducted last week by Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research Inc. of Columbia, Md.
But the enthusiasm was not shared by the 235 poll participants who identified themselves as Republican. Among them, Warner is running in a virtual dead heat for the GOP nomination against James C. Miller III, a former federal budget chief.
Warner outraged many GOP loyalists last year by actively campaigning against Oliver L. North, the Republican nominee for Virginia's U.S. Senate seat. In 1993, he angered party members by refusing to endorse Michael P. Farris, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor.
Questioning Warner's loyalty, many GOP activists have vowed to work for the three-term senator's defeat in next year's nomination battle. Hoping to avoid the party's wrath, Warner is insisting that Republicans hold a primary election next spring instead of making its nomination at a state convention.
The poll suggests Warner would top Miller by just three points, 41 percent to 38 percent with the rest undecided, if a primary were held now. The difference is insignificant considering the poll's 7 percent margin of error among likely Republican primary voters.
Mason-Dixon Vice President Del Ali cautioned that the poll assumed Republicans will hold a primary and that Miller will be a candidate, but said: ``The bottom line is that John Warner has a horse race on his hands.''
If state GOP Chairman Patrick McSweeney were to enter the race and prompt a three-way Republican primary, Warner's percentage would remain the same. McSweeney would score six points, taking half from Miller and half from otherwise undecided voters.
Other results showed Warner would beat possible Democratic opponents Mark Warner 47 percent to 25 percent and Leslie Byrne, 49 to 21.
The poll, conducted July 25-27 from a randomly generated list of telephone numbers, had a margin of error of no more than plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Sen. John W. Warner
KEYWORDS: POLL U.S. SENATE RACE by CNB