THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 31, 1996 TAG: 9605310524
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
LENGTH: 57 lines
For months, Oliver L. North sat on the sidelines as Virginia Republicans worked through a Senate primary campaign that has focused on him, even though his name is not on the June 11 ballot.
This weekend, the silence ends. North, the conservative Iran-Contra figure whose failed Senate campaign in 1994 polarized his party, will address the GOP convention in Salem.
It would surprise no one if North calls for Republicans to oust Sen. John W. Warner in favor of James C. Miller III. After all, the senator infuriated North's conservative flock by backing the independent candidate who drained away enough Republican votes to let Democratic Sen. Charles S. Robb keep his seat.
North had wrestled with whether to weigh in on the primary between Warner and Miller. He said conservative activists had been calling him daily, pleading with him to avenge Warner's action and lend his charisma to Miller's campaign.
``I want something that's going to raise a few rafters,'' North said of his speech.
Party leaders said Warner turned down a chance to speak at the convention, which opens Friday in Salem.
Susan Magill, Warner's chief of staff, said she could find no written evidence of an invitation, although she acknowledged that Warner's staff had no desire to put him before a potentially hostile audience.
Also this weekend as some 2,700 Republicans from across the state attend the two-day event at the Salem Civic Center:
Del. J. Randy Forbes, R-Chesapeake, is slated to be elected chairman of Virginia's Republican Party. He is Gov. George F. Allen's hand-picked choice to succeed Patrick McSweeney, who was widely criticized as divisive during his four-year term as chairman.
Forbes, a low-key conservative, has pledged to improve the often-tense relations between the party's conservative and moderate wings.
The party also will elect 20 delegates to the Republican National Convention, two representatives to fill seats on the Republican National Committee and two people to cast votes this fall in the Electoral College.
As of late Thursday, it was unclear whether Warner plans to set foot in the convention hall, even though he plans campaign events in Roanoke and Salem today.
Warner plans to hold a party for supporters tonight at the Hotel Roanoke, where the state party has scheduled a banquet. David Johnson, executive director of the state GOP, said Warner also has not replied to an invitation to speak at the dinner.
Warner's opponent - former federal budget director James C. Miller III - is scheduled to address the convention Saturday, as is North. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Oliver North, left, will speak this weekend and Del. J. Randy Forbes
of Chesapeake will likely be elected chairman of Virginia's
Republican Party.
KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE VIRGINIA REPUBLICAN PARTY by CNB