THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 31, 1996 TAG: 9603310051
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Republicans in Virginia's most populous city on Saturday elected J.P. Godsey, a financial adviser, as party chairman.
More than 400 party members gathered at Cox High School to vote, choosing Godsey over longtime party activist Jim Totin and businesswoman Delceno Miles. Miles had campaigned to become the first African-American elected leader of the city party.
Godsey, 38, a financial adviser for Prudential Securities and the party's current finance chairman, said the party would remain unified. He vowed to spread the GOP's conservative message and to reach out to people of all races.
``I think we need to continue to strive for color blindness - we just need good people,'' Godsey said. ``I'm going to make sure this is an inclusive party and that everyone who wants to come into the party has a voice - a fair voice.''
It's a constant challenge to get people involved - regardless of creed and color, he said.
His goals, he said, are to raise more money to support Republican candidates; to get them elected; and to expand party membership.
The Beach party has been pulling in winners with recent elections; the GOP claims all but one of the city's eight state legislators.
A week ago in Portsmouth, Republicans elected a black chairman, James Quash Jr., for the first time in modern history.
Miles, hoping to make the same history in Virginia Beach, said the party would send a powerful message to blacks by electing a black chairman.
In a brief speech before secret ballots were cast, Miles challenged members to become the party of ``diversity, not divisiveness . . . inclusion, rather than exclusion.'' The GOP should become known for ``growth, outreach and participation,'' she said, not ``get in line, good ol' boy'' politics as usual.
Despite the outcome, Miles, 35, said she harbored no ill feelings.
``I'm still a Republican - win, lose or draw,'' said Miles, recently appointed by the City Council to the School Board. She now is running unopposed for the Blackwater borough seat.
Only a handful of African Americans attended Saturday's ``mass meeting,'' held around the region. In Norfolk, Republicans re-elected chairman R. Wayne Nunnally, a Norfolk attorney and longtime party activist, who ran unopposed.
U.S. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., and GOP challenger James C. Miller III campaigned and spoke at both meetings. They will pair off in a June primary.
Miles said she makes no apologies for her conservative, pro-business views at a time when the majority of blacks in the country have been voting Democratic. The party of Lincoln, Miles said, reflects the values of many African Americans.
``We share the same concerns as anybody else - safe schools, to be able to have careers, to live where we'd like, a good education - all those Mom and apple pie concerns,'' she said. ``There's a lot of people out there who support Republican principles - it's just a matter of asking them to take part.'' by CNB