DATE: Tuesday, April 22, 1997               TAG: 9704220402

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   45 lines

PAT ROBERTSON GIVES $50,000 TO CAMPAIGN OF JAMES GILMORE

Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson has made a $50,000 contribution to Republican James S. Gilmore's campaign for governor.

The March 28 donation makes the Virginia Beach-based evangelical leader the second highest individual contributor to the campaign. He trails only Bruce C. Gottwald, chairman of the Ethyl Corp., who has given Gilmore $60,000 and loaned his campaign another $33,000.

Robertson's contribution was noted in campaign finance reports filed this month with the state Board of Elections. Unlike federal elections, contributors to statewide races in Virginia can give a candidate as much money as they want.

Roberston also gave Gilmore $50,000 in 1993 to help with his successful race for attorney general.

Democrats accused Gilmore of having a conflict of interest in accepting the money this year. They noted that last year the attorney general turned aside a request from a Democratic state senator to investigate the political activities of the Christian Coalition, a national public interest and lobbying group founded by Robertson.

``This adds to serious questions of conflict that have already been raised about Jim Gilmore's fund-raising practices,'' said Bert Rohrer, a spokesman for the state Democratic Party.

Mark A. Miner, a spokesman for Gilmore, rejected the criticism as politically motivated. ``There's no conflict,'' he said. ``We've accepted Pat Robertson's contribution like we've accepted many other contributions from business and political leaders throughout the state,'' he said.

Gene Kapp, a spokesman for Robertson, said Rohrer's criticism suggests a Democratic strategy to appeal to ``religious bigotry.''

``There's been a pattern of this type of criticism in the past few years,'' he said.

Kapp said it is ``perfectly normal and acceptable'' for Robertson to be involved in Virginia's political process.

He said Robertson has a ``long history of involvement'' in state affairs dating back to his father, A. Willis Robertson, who was a longtime U.S. senator from Virginia. KEYWORDS: CAMPAIGN FINANCING POLITICAL DONATIONS

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