THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 1, 1996 TAG: 9606010262
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE AND ROBERT LITTLE
STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: SALEM LENGTH: 56 lines
State Republican leaders will not be deprived of their chance to embarrass U.S. Sen. John W. Warner at their state convention.
Amid much infighting, delegates voted Friday to conduct a straw poll today on the convention's preference in the June 11 Republican Primary. ``It's a big victory for us,'' said William Kling, a spokesman for James C. Miller III, Warner's opponent in the race.
Miller seems certain to win the poll, and his advisers say they are hoping the results will energize his cash-strapped campaign.
Many party activists have been angry at Warner for his refusal to support two recent Republican statewide nominees: Michael P. Farris for lieutenant governor in 1993 and Oliver L. North for the Senate in 1994. They blame Warner for both candidates' defeats in general elections.
This week's convention might have ended Warner's three-term career in the Congress had not the Senator invoked an obscure law and insisted that the nomination be held in a primary open to all voters.
Although Warner made appearances in Salem and nearby Roanoke on Friday, he did not set foot on the convention floor. Warner said he was not invited to the convention, a charge denied by outgoing state Republican Party Chairman Patrick McSweeney.
The straw poll, McSweeney said, would be ``therapeutic and cathartic'' for activists who are angry at Warner. Many delegates said the poll would give the public a clear reading of the party's preference before the primary.
The poll was approved by a 58 percent vote of the convention. Warner supporters and many delegates who are neutral said the poll was divisive and could embarrass the party if Warner ends up winning the primary.
``The Democrats will have a field day if they can say our nominee isn't even supported by our party,'' said Don Duncan, Republican chairman of the 6th Congressional District that includes Roanoke. Duncan is neutral in the race.
Warner dismissed the straw poll as the ``last hurrah'' orchestrated by McSweeney, a Miller supporter. He said the convention delegates are out of step with the public.
``The important race is June 11,'' he said. ``There are roughly 700,000 people in this state who share Republican goals, and how many of them are at the convention?''
But many Miller supporters were delighted by the prospect of the convention taking a stand against Warner. ``This is who would be walking out of here with the nomination had we been able to'' nominate a Senate candidate by convention, said Roanoke County GOP activist Trixie Averill.
Also during today's convention the party is expected to nominate Chesapeake Del. J. Randy Forbes as its next chairman, and hold elections for a variety of party posts. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
James C. Miller III votes Friday to defeat an amendment that would
have blocked today's Senate straw poll at the GOP convention. by CNB