
DATE: Sunday, September 21, 1997            TAG: 9709130628

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A5   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:  177 lines

FOCUS: ELECTION '97 DONALD STERNOFF BEYER JR. DEMOCRAT

BORN: July 20, 1950, U.S. Army Hospital, Trieste, Italy.

One of two sons and four daughters born to Nancy and Donald S. Beyer Sr. The senior Beyer, a West Pointer, served in the Army and after retirement in 1966 managed several auto dealerships before buying a fledgling one in 1973. He sold the business to his sons.

FAMILY: Wife, Megan Carroll of Alexandria. Married in 1987. She has a journalism degree from the University of Richmond and serves on a variety of boards including Wolf Trap Associates, The Richmond Ballet, and the Medical Care for Children Partnership.

Mrs. Beyer was a reporter for a Northern Virginia TV station when she met Don Beyer at an event at which he introduced another politician. Now, she's on the campaign trail as much as her young children's schedules allow. ``Here I am,'' she said recently, ``on the other side of the microphones.''

Four children: Donald III, 22, and Stephanie, 17, from his first marriage to his high school sweetheart (Carolyn McInerny, married 1972-1986) and Clara, 5, and Grace, 2, from his present marriage.

INCOME:

Income Tax Records - 1996

Adjusted Gross Income: $594,001

Federal Tax Liability $185,200

While his opponent James S. Gilmore released seven years worth of income tax returns at the newspaper's request, Beyer released only a summary of his income information. He cited the privacy of other family members - who derive income from the family business - as the reason for less than full disclosure.

RESIDENCE: Old Town Alexandria. Assessed value of home: $577,500 (land, $150,100, residence: $427,400, last assessed, 1997)

CHURCH: Episcopalian. Reared Catholic.

SCHOOL TIES:

Gonzaga College High School, Washington, D.C., 1968

Williams College, Williamstown, Mass. BA, 1972

At prestigious all-male Williams, Beyer earned an economics degree magna cum laude and was Phi Beta Kappa. His lowest grade: A C-plus in American politics. Emerging from college uncertain of what to do with his life, he considered becoming a doctor and completed premed courses at St. Louis University. Accepted at three medical schools, he chose Georgetown University but never went there. He drove a truck for his father's dealership in the summer of 1974, had second thoughts about becoming a doctor, got a year's deferment from Georgetown and asked dad if he could stay on until he firmed up his thinking. Later, Beyer explained: ``My father got into the car business because he loved cars. I got into it because I loved business.''

MILITARY:

No military service: ``I was very much of the generation who thought we shouldn't be in Vietnam,'' Beyer has said of that time of his life. His right hand, with its missing little finger, exempted him from the military draft.

WORK AND PUBLIC OFFICE:

Vice president and co-owner Don Beyer Volvo, Falls Church

Serving his second term as lieutenant governor, his first elective office. In 1989, he won 54 percent of the vote, in 1993, 54.5 percent.

SOME PROMISES, PLATFORM, PROPOSALS IN THIS CAMPAIGN

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

Raising teacher salaries.

Giving teachers greater ability to remove disruptive students.

Cutting drop-out rate.

Expanding adult education programs.

Continuing tuition freeze.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Virginia needs to do more to help small business expand - says proposed tax cut will help:

Set up a $40 million fund to help local governments improve or expand industrial sites.

Open economic development offfice in Southwest Virginia.

Eliminate the corporate income tax for 95 percent of Virginia's small businesses.

TAXES: Trim the personal property tax on cars and trucks with an income tax credit (based on income) equal to the personal property tax on one or two vehicles up to $250 (married) and $150 (single).

PUBLIC SAFETY: Plans to attack crime by:

Expanding forensic science offices to eliminate backlog of 130,000 DNA samples.

``No retreat'' for the abolition of parole.

Requiring prosecutors to inform victims of plea bargains.

Requiring prosecutors to consult with victims before plea bargaining.

Expanding accessibility of sex offender registry.

Enacting a sexual predator act.

Creating more safe havens for victims of domestic abuse.

WHO IS IN HIS CORNER

Both candidates are getting the funding they need to run their campaigns.

WE WILL ADD A FUNDRAISING LIST FRIDAY SPACE PERMITTING.

Endorsements include:

Fraternal Order of Police

Virginia Education Association

AFL-CIO

National Abortion Rights Action League

Human Services PAC

United Mine Workers

Virginia Professional Firefighters

WHERE HE STANDS ON SOME HIGH-PROFILE CONCERNS

Abortion: Pro-choice. Supports parental notification.

Opposes parental consent.

Gun control: Supports instantaneous criminal record checks.

Supports one-gun-a-month limitation.

Affirmative Action: Supports affirmative action. Opposes quotas.

Death penalty: Supports Virginia's death penalty.

Tobacco: Supports best efforts to keep cigarettes away from children - vigorous enforcement of current laws. Believes tobacco settlement funds should be directed to tobacco-growing regions and health and education efforts to stop teen smoking.

SELF DESCRIPTION OF LEADERSHIP STYLE

``The best managers treat their employees like volunteers. Because when you pay them, you pay them to come to work, you pay them to do this or that. But what you really want is their heart and their soul. And, you can't buy that - they have to volunteer it.'' Beyer in a 1989 interview, on the key to success in business or government.

WHO IS IN HIS CORNER

Both candidates are getting the funding they need to run their campaigns.

Beyer had $1.43 on hand and ready to spend as of Sept. 1, according to to campaign finance reports filed Monday with the state Board of Elections

* Beyer raised $964,000 during July and August.

* He spent $799,000 during the same period.

* All told, Beyer's campaign had raised $5.91 million since the beginning of his campaign and spent $4.48 million.

Some individual contributors (more than $25,000).

*David Arenstein, real estate.

Virginia high-tech firm

*Curtis Coward, attorney, McGuire, Woods, Battle & Boothe

*Albert Dwoskin, Northern Virginia real estate developer

*Mario Morino, Chairman of Morino Institute in Great Falls, a computer and information technology firm

*Stuart Siegel, S & K Famous Brands

*Alan Wurtzel, former chairman, Circuit City

*Tori Thomas Winkler, real estate

*Roger W. Sant, AES Corp.

*Mark Warner, Columbia Capital

WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT HIM

"I think he's probably the most charismatic individual I've served under. He's literate, articulate and always comes across as caring." Sen. Joseph V. Gartlan, D-Fairfax

"He doesn't always like to tip his hand on votes. It was difficult to get a commitment from him before a vote." -- former Sen. Clarence A. Holland, D-Va. Beach.

"I've never seen anyone who can do so may things at once and do them well. It's not unusual to see him speaking on the telephone, reading something and writing a speech at the same time. He really has a remarkable mind." -- Donald S. Beyer Sr., the candidate's father.

"I have long thought Don Beyer will say anything for political gain. What he says is totally unreliable and subject to change every four years." -- Michael P. Farris, Beyer's Republican opponent for lieutenant governor in

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH WITH THE CANDIDATE

Donald S. Beyer Jr., Democrat

1004 N. Thompson St., Suite 300

Richmond, Va. 23230

Campaign Office: (804) 354-9797

Fax: (904) 354-9856

e-mail: donbeyer97 aol.com

Website: www.beyer97.org 1993. MEMO: CREDIT BOX: Compiled by Warren Fiske, Sue Robinson and Janie

Evans. Sources: newspaper archives, the candidates, their campaign

staffs, candidates' news releases and Web sites, public documents, IRS

records provided by candidate, college transcripts. ILLUSTRATION: Photos

Salutatorian and class president. Senior, Gonzaga High School, 1968