
DATE: Sunday, September 21, 1997            TAG: 9709130030

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A4   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: FOCUS

                                            LENGTH:  114 lines

FOCUS: ELECTION '97 JAMES STUART GILMORE III REPUBLICAN

BORN: Oct. 6, 1949, Richmond.

The only child of Margaret Evelyn Kandle and James S. Gilmore Jr., a church secretary and a grocery store meat cutter.

FAMILY: Wife, Margaret Roxane Gatling of Suffolk. Married July 26, 1977, at Oxford United Methodist Church in Suffolk. Mrs. Gilmore taught Latin in public schools and now teaches classics at Randolph-Macon College, a 1,000-student, United Methodist liberal arts college. She holds a master's degree in ancient history from U.Va. and is working on a doctorate.

The Gilmores met at U.Va. at a literary debate. ``We've always been active in the Republican Party,'' she said in a 1993 interview. Both university Young Republicans, they spent their first evening together campaigning for a congressional candidate. ``He invited me to go door-to-door,'' she recalled. ``That should have been an indication'' of her future.

Two sons, Ashton, 10, and Jay, 14. The eldest has attended private school but this year switched to public school.

INCOME:

NEED TO CHECK THESE FIGURES

Income Tax Records----1996

Adjusted Gross Income: $119,287

Federal income tax 20,848

RESIDENCE: Suburban Richmond. Assessed value of home: $213,300 (land, $55,000; improvements, $158,300, last assessed, 1995.)

CHURCH: River Road United Methodist Church

SCHOOL TIES

Tucker High School, Richmond, 1967

University of Virginia, BA, 1971

University of Virginia Law School, JD, 1977

Gilmore was an average student in undergraduate courses. He flunked Russian, earned a D in a couple of math classes and a B-minus in public speaking while earning A's and B's in government and history. His last undergraduate term he earned straight A's and finished with a 2.8 GPA.

He excelled in law school - which he attended on the GI Bill - earning only two C's.

In law school, he joined a star-studded class that included Gov. George F. Allen, Republican State Chairman and Del. J. Randy Forbes, R-Chesapeake, and newly appointed Virginia Supreme Court Justice Cynthia D. Kinser.

Military: He had a low draft number and enlisted in the U.S. Army. Mustered out as Sgt. Gilmore, 1974. Joint Service Commendation Medal, Service to NATO.

WORK AND PUBLIC OFFICE:

Former Virginia Attorney General. Stepped down in June to run for governor.

Now, attorney with LeClair Ryan firm in Richmond

Defeated in a run for a House of Delegates seat in 1981.

Beat Democratic incumbent for Henrico commonwealth's attorney in 1987. Unopposed for re-election in 1991. Served until 1992.

Ran for attorney general, 1993.

PROMISES, PLATFORM, PROPOSALS IN THIS CAMPAIGN

EDUCATION Wants to improve Virginia's schools and access to higher education by:

hiring more teachers reduce class size

requiring mandatory jail time for any student found guilty of assaulting a teacher

making $2,000 yearly scholarships to students who:

graduate with B averages

score in top 20 percent on standardized tests

have good conduct records

continuing tuition freeze

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Pledges 250,000 new jobs in broad economic development plan by:

creating a statewide university technology transfer network

concentrating on community college efforts on work-force training

appoint a cabinet-level Chief Information Technology Officer

providing more new small business loans

TAXES Eliminate the first $20,000 of value in personal property on cars and trucks - state would make up that revenue to localities ``dollar for dollar'' out of rising state revenues

PUBLIC SAFETY. Plans to attack crime by:

making bail harder to get for someone with a previous record

amending state's drug kingpin and money laundering statutes to improve effectiveness

using retired military and police officers to run boot camp style programs in middle school for young offenders.

making prisoners pay the cost of their incarceration by:

assessing each prisoner a per diem cost

charging his total cost of keep

making more prisoners work while serving time

and perform community service upon release

establishing an ``unqualified'' sex offender registry

enacting a violent sexual predator act

having more safe havens for abused women and children