DATE: Tuesday, March 18, 1997               TAG: 9703180336
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   37 lines

GOP CANDIDATE SAYS HE WILL OPPOSE TAX INCREASES

Northern Virginia businessman Coleman Andrews promised Monday to oppose tax increases if he wins the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor and ultimately is elected.

``I'm here to tell you that Virginians are already taxed enough,'' Andrews told about 250 GOP activists at a breakfast in Norfolk. ``You cannot tax your way to prosperity.''

Andrews also said he wants to build the state's economy, permit voluntary prayer in school, ban partial-birth abortions, stay the course on welfare reform in Virginia and simplify the tax code.

Andrews was joined by former Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes, who said computer technology is ushering in an age in which innovation and imagination are important.

Andrews will support the reforms necessary to succeed in that new era, said Forbes, editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine.

``He does have an understanding that ideas matter, that policies matter, that you can make a change,'' Forbes said.

Andrews and Forbes also were scheduled to make stops in Roanoke, Lynchburg and Fairfax.

Andrews announced March 11 that he had collected 18,486 signatures on petitions, exceeding the 16,811 needed to get his name on the June 10 GOP primary ballot.

Del. Jay Katzen of Fauquier County and GOP activist John Hager of Richmond also are seeking the nomination.

Andrews is the race's best-financed candidate with more than $1 million raised. KEYWORDS: CANDIDATE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR'S RACE ELECTION

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