THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 6, 1996 TAG: 9602060313
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: DANVILLE LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
Democratic Rep. L.F. Payne said Monday he is leaving Congress to explore business opportunities and will consider running for statewide office.
Lt. Gov. Donald S. Beyer Jr. and other Democratic Party leaders want Payne to run for lieutenant governor next year when Beyer runs for governor.
``I've been flattered that a number of people have considered me as a candidate for statewide office,'' Payne said. ``Things such as that I will certainly consider in the future.''
State Sen. Virgil Goode, D-Rocky Mount, said he is interested in running for Payne's seat and has scheduled a news conference at the state capitol Tuesday to discuss the possibility of his candidacy.
Payne, 50, is a moderate-to-conservative Democrat first elected in a June 1988 special election to fill the term of Dan Daniel, who died in office. The 5th District includes Danville, Martinsville, Rocky Mount, Lynchburg and Charlottesville.
Payne is the 39th House member and 26th Democrat to announce plans to leave after this term. Thirteen senators, including eight Democrats, also are leaving in the largest exodus in history.
Payne said he is disappointed that efforts to eliminate the federal deficit - one of his top priorities - have been hindered, but is encouraged that nearly everyone now agrees the budget must be balanced.
His decision to leave is unrelated to legislative frustrations, the increasingly bitter partisanship in Congress or the hostile tone of his last campaign against Republican challenger George Landrith, Payne said. ``I'm not here not seeking re-election because I'm mad at anybody; I'm not here because I'm disappointed or I'm trying to make some kind of statement,'' he said. ``I'm not complaining about anything.''
Payne ran for Congress after making a fortune developing the Wintergreen ski resort in Nelson County, where he lives with his wife, Susan, and their two daughters. ``I think I've done my duty and now I want to return to what I was doing,'' he said, adding that he might devote more attention to the resort company he owns or delve into another business. ``I never intended the Congress to be a career.'' ILLUSTRATION: Business will pull Democratic Rep. L.F. Payne out of Congress,
but he might stay on the state political scene.
by CNB