DATE: Monday, June 23, 1997                 TAG: 9706230037

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   40 lines

HOUSE CANDIDATES ARE ON PACE TO SPEND EVEN MORE THAN IN '95

Only two years after expensive and contentious legislative elections, candidates for the House of Delegates are on pace to spend more money than ever seeking office this year.

From January through May, House candidates raised more than $2.8 million, up 12 percent from the same period in 1995. And the total does not count money raised by candidates for three special elections last winter, or more than $700,000 rolled over from campaign accounts in the last election.

The figures were surprising to political analysts, but reflected an attitude among candidates that it's never too early to seek contributions.

``Most of the money raised to date is sort of preparation money,'' said Robert Holsworth, Virginia Commonwealth University political analyst. ``What '95 did was to convince the incumbents that they ought to be well-prepared for '97, (to) get out early and begin to bankroll their campaigns early.''

In 1995, after the Republicans swept Congress, national money poured into Virginia. The GOP was hoping to take control of the statehouse for the first time this century.

The Democrats managed to hang onto the House by a 52-47 margin, with one independent, and salvaged a 20-20 tie in the state Senate.

This year the competition for money also will come from candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

``I'm not taking any chances,'' said Del. Vincent F. Callahan Jr., R-Fairfax. He said he hasn't had trouble raising money this early.

``Business is booming and people are contributing more,'' he said.

Holsworth and Larry J. Sabato, political analyst at the University of Virginia, said they don't expect the fast-paced fund raising to persist.

``Both sides have said that they're not going to wage the same kind of pitched battle that they did in 1995,'' Sabato said.

Some analysts have said they expect both parties to pick their spots more selectively this year. KEYWORDS: CAMPAIGN FINANCE

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