THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 29, 1995 TAG: 9511290472
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
Secretary of Administration Michael E. Thomas said Tuesday he will not resign from the Allen administration Cabinet if he becomes state Republican Party chairman next year.
Thomas, who hopes to succeed the retiring GOP chairman, Patrick M. McSweeney, said he would be able to separate his government responsibilities from his political activities.
Thomas, 35, would be the first Cabinet officer to serve in the role of state party chairman since the governor's Cabinet system was created in 1971. His candidacy is being endorsed by Gov. George F. Allen, according to spokesman Ken Stroupe.
His candidacy was criticized by Paul L. Goldman - who took heat several years ago for lobbying state government at the same time he served as state Democratic chairman under former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder.
The General Assembly, under heavy pressure from Republicans, passed the so-called ``anti-Goldman rule'' which barred state party chairmen from lobbying the legislature.
Goldman noted that Thomas controls a vast number of state contracts and jobs in his Cabinet post. In the dual role as Republican chairman, Goldman said Thomas ``would violate all the principles the Republicans were for. How can you justify that.''
Stroupe said Allen sees no conflict with Thomas holding dual roles.
``Mike has been very careful and very diligent about separating his public responsibilities from his private political activities,'' said Stroupe, the governor's press secretary.
The secretary of administration oversees many state functions - including personnel and training, the retirement system, the veterans affairs and the Department of Information Technology. He's taken the leadership role in the Cabinet on exploring privatization of government services.
Thomas recently acknowledged that he helped distribute 324 surplus state computers to the school districts of seven Republican legislative incumbents facing tough reelections. The distribution has been criticized by Democrats as an improper allocation of state resources.
``That was cash in the form of computers,'' said Goldman.
McSweeney announced Monday that he would not seek a second term. The conservative Richmond lawyer was under heavy fire from party moderates and from Allen, who accused McSweeney of trying to derail his 1993 gubernatorial campaign.
Thomas, as Allen's right-hand political man, tried and failed to oust McSweeney in late 1993.
McSweeney will not back Thomas. McSweeney said he ``has a problem'' with a member of the Cabinet also serving as a political leader. He did not elaborate.
Thomas, a longtime conservative activist and abortion opponent, is the only person who has announced plans to seek the chairmanship. by CNB