DATE: Friday, October 17, 1997              TAG: 9710170667

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   38 lines

GILMORE HAS TWICE THE MONEY OF BEYER

Republican James S. Gilmore III entered the final full month of the gubernatorial campaign with more than twice as much money to spend as Democratic rival Donald S. Beyer Jr.

Gilmore's campaign began October with almost $1.1 million in the bank, according to financial reports filed Wednesday with the state Board of Elections. Beyer reported having $426,000 on hand.

Gilmore also enjoyed a decisive fund-raising edge over Beyer during September. The Republican raised $1.5 million last month while Beyer raised $733,000.

National Republican Party sources continued to be the largest source of money for Gilmore. The GOP Congressional and Senate committees gave Gilmore a total of $400,000 last month. All told, the national party has contributed $808,000 to his campaign.

Page Boinest, a spokeswoman for Beyer, said the Democrat is not concerned about Gilmore's edge in fund raising. ``We're aggressively raising money every day,'' she said. ``We've got a lot of ads out there. We're not having any trouble.''

Gilmore spent $1.9 million in September. Beyer spent $1.7 million.

Since the inception of their campaigns, Gilmore has raised $7.2 million while Beyer has collected $6.6 million. ILLUSTRATION: GARY C. KNAPP

U.S. Sen. John Warner, left, endorses Republican James S. Gilmore

III at the MacArthur Memorial in Norfolk on Thursday. Gilmore and

opponent Don Beyer are entering the final full month of the

gubernatorial campaign. KEYWORDS: ELECTION CANDIATE GUBERNATORIAL RACE VIRGINIA

CAMPAIGN FINANCING

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