THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 1, 1995 TAG: 9511010463
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: Election '95
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT AND LISE OLSEN, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Long : 142 lines
If voters listen to the rhetoric and watch the TV commercials, they'll learn that the 1995 General Assembly elections are about partisan politics, crime, education and lottery money.
But if they check out the campaign contributions, another set of issues emerges. That campaign - featuring big donations from the medical community, the trial lawyers and the labor unions - is about what businesses and other organizations hope to achieve after the election.
Thomas W. Moss Jr. of Norfolk, speaker of the House and one of the most powerful Democrats in the state, has collected the most money this year. A look at Moss' campaign contributions offers a glimpse of the organizations funding the races statewide. Moss received $13,750 from the legal community, more than $20,000 from the medical community and nearly $21,000 from utilities, including $15,500 from Dominion Resources, the parent company of Virginia Power.
The contributions also show that casino companies haven't given up on riverboat gambling. Labor unions, which hope to get work from new development and boat construction, are also rolling the dice to win a more favorable climate for the gambling industry.
Doctors want more opportunities to get money from health maintenance organizations. Optometrists want to get more control to prescribe - which would make them more competitive with ophthalmologists.
Lawyers, as always, are concerned about appointments to judgeships, and about election laws and civil law.
In all, labor and industry political action committees, party groups and corporations account for 70 percent of the money in Hampton Roads races. Republicans and Democrats alike benefit from corporate checks - nearly all of the money goes to incumbents.
Del. George H. Heilig Jr., D-Norfolk, chairman of the powerful Corporations, Insurance and Banking Committee and an active fund-raiser, said candidates count on big donations.
``Obviously the more you can get in one contribution, the less of a smaller kind you have to solicit,'' said Heilig.
Beneficiaries are often key committee chairmen, like Heilig, or sponsors of industry-backed legislation.
Riverboat gambling interests have contributed more than $10,000 to Del. Jerrauld Jones of Norfolk, prime sponsor of gambling legislation - an indication that the issue has not died.
Jones said Monday that casino operators are still interested in Virginia, but there is no guarantee that there will be any legislation on gaming in the upcoming session.
Jones, who is unopposed for re-election, said the casinos are contributing to him for the same reason other businesses contribute to campaigns: ``They all want the government to be friendly and favorable to them.''
Edwin Joseph, a committee member for Know Casinos, an anti-riverboat concern, said the casinos ``are going to keep coming back because Virginia is a possibility for them. They were invited in and the Norfolk legislators have encouraged them to continue their efforts.''
Joseph said the gaming companies spent nearly $800,000 to lobby in the Assembly during the last session. ``That's the largest amount ever spent in the General Assembly in one session,'' he added.
The labor unions also haven't given up hope on the riverboat issue - largely because the industry has promised to use union labor. Unions are among the top contributors to campaigns in Hampton Roads, and they want the state to encourage more union business and development to come into Virginia.
Union representatives said they also want to prevent the Assembly from coming under Republican control. They said Democrats are more likely to favor workers.
``We're trying to support candidates that really support the workers. That's the key,'' said Jerry Hufton, president of the Central Labor Council. ``The Republican administration is not for the workers that we represent.''
Sen. L. Louise Lucas, a Portsmouth Democrat and former union activist who describes herself as a pro-labor legislator, received $7,500 from labor groups, including $5,000 from the Teamsters union.
``We can't afford to turn our backs on any industry that would help the people I represent,'' Lucas said.
Lucas is a favorite among unions, because she has an insider's view on the issues. Many industries donate to legislators who have professional ties to their concerns.
Sen. Clarence A. Holland, D-Virginia Beach, the only physician in the General Assembly and a member of the Senate Health, Education and Welfare Committee, received more than $40,000 for his campaign from individual physicians and medical organizations.
Holland said he has attracted more money than ever before from doctors this year.
That's partly because Holland has serious opposition, and partly because health care professionals have a stake in a medical reform bill he plans to introduce in the next session.
The bill would force health maintenance organizations to open up their operations to more physicians; Holland said he will support the change for at least a trial period - over the insurance companies' objections.
``Physicians have been more involved, this year, certainly in my race, since they realized I'm the No. 1 target of Republicans. They want to keep someone there in the medical profession.''
But he says their money doesn't make up his mind. ``I've done things that have made my fellow physicians just as mad as things that they have liked.''
While Holland's fund raising has benefited from his ties to the medical community, Heilig, chairman of the powerful Corporations, Insurance and Banking Committee, received nearly $13,000 from business groups.
Heilig said that there's no specific legislation coming, but that his committee helps preserve a good business climate in Virginia, and so all committee members probably attract more business contributions than other members of the Assembly. Heilig - among the top 10 fund-raisers in the state - has collected more than $185,000.
In the coming year, Heilig's committee will help select two of three commissioners for the State Corporation Commission.
That commission is among the most powerful in the nation. It regulates banking, telecommunications, electric utilities, insurance and securities.
The commission is drafting rules that would regulate competition among local telephone companies, based on legislation that was passed during the last session. It would also work toward deregulating electric utilitiy companies.
Jone said he receives large contributions from industries that care about what's going on in Richmond.
``I'm on (the) Corporations, Insurance and Banking committee and I guess that the preponderance of my contributions come from those entities,'' Jones said. ``Individuals just don't make big contributions. The individual is completely disinterested. Those people interested in the process are the ones who contribute.'' ILLUSTRATION: B/W Photos
Del. Jerrauld Jones
Sen. L. Louise Lucas
Sen. Clarence A. Holland
Del. George H. Heilig Jr.
Staff graphics by The Virginian-Pilot
Source: Computer analysis of campaign finance records by the The
Virginian-Pilot
The Origins of Large Cash Contributions
Top Political and Corporate contribtors
For copy of graphics, see microfilm
KEYWORDS: ELECTION CANDIDATE PAC CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS by CNB