THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, December 4, 1995 TAG: 9512040074
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Three Democrats interested in unseating Republican Sen. John Warner made their cases at a party dinner in Lynchburg.
Mark Warner, Leslie Byrne and Nancy Spannaus, a follower of political extremist Lyndon LaRouche, spoke to a crowd of about 100 Democrats at the annual 5th District Democratic Party Jefferson/Jackson day dinner on Saturday.
Mark Warner, considered the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, said he was running because the state needed to end the ``politics of bickering'' and have effective representation in Washington.
Mark Warner, who resigned as head of the state Democratic Party to run for Senate, has locked up the endorsements of a number of Democratic elected officials and party leaders. He is not related to John Warner, who is seeking a fourth term.
Byrne, who was defeated in her bid for re-election last year as 11th District U.S. representative, said she was in the race because she thought the state needed a strong voice for middle-class values and for economic fairness. Byrne has not formally declared her candidacy.
In her speech, Byrne said the campaign would be a ``tough fight,'' but said that she and Mark Warner remain friends.
``Competition will make us both sharper,'' she said.
Spannaus said she was running in opposition to House Speaker Newt Gingrich and the Republican Congress. She ran as an independent candidate for governor in 1993 and sought the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination in 1994.
The keynote speech was delivered by Gov. Thomas Carper of Delaware, who grew up in Danville. Carper, who was elected in 1992, was Delaware's first Democratic governor in 20 years.
Carper said the recent state legislative elections in Virginia - in which Democrats, despite an all-out effort by Republican Gov. George F. Allen, held control of the General Assembly - was heartening to Democrats across the country.
KEYWORDS: SENATE RACE CANDIDATE by CNB