THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, June 9, 1996                  TAG: 9606080013
SECTION: COMMENTARY              PAGE: J4   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Editorial 
                                            LENGTH:   35 lines

GOP ALSO PICKS A 1ST DISTRICT NOMINEE BATEMAN IS THE ONE

Herb Bateman has represented Virginia's maritime 1st Congressional District in Congress for seven terms. This fall, he deserves to be the Republican nominee for an eighth.

From the start, Bateman's intraparty challenge from David Caprara has been a curious affair. Few could understand why Caprara would give up a position as director of housing and community development in the Allen administration to run against an experienced and well-regarded fellow Republican.

As the campaign closes, the answers are no clearer.

What is certain is that Caprara has provided no compelling reason for 1st District Republicans to oust a man who has successfully worked to protect the district's shipbuilding and military interests.

The suspicion is that Caprara was persuaded by a combination of far-right religious conservatives and members of the National Rifle Association to undertake a pointless race.

The NRA is never more vicious than when it is taking on a Republican who has dared to stray from the fold. Bateman's support of a waiting period for the purchase of a handgun and a ban on certain military-style assault firearms have made him a villian in the NRA's eyes.

But not in the eyes of 1st District voters, who have returned him year after year to Congress by ever-increasing margins.

The 1st District is an oddly drawn entity that stretches from Stafford County in the Washington exurbs to the Peninsula to the Eastern Shore. Voters from across that span should give their support to Herb Bateman on Tuesday.

KEYWORDS: U.S. SENATE RACE VIRGINIA PRIMARY ELECTIONS

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