DATE: Thursday, October 23, 1997            TAG: 9710230524

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   51 lines

RALPH REED'S OFFER TO HELP GILMORE DECLINED

Former Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed offered to help Republican Jim Gilmore's campaign for governor, but GOP officials rejected the overture.

Reed offered to raise money for television ads criticizing Democrat Don Beyer's record on taxes, a Republican official who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press.

But the GOP - wary of validating Beyer's charge that Gilmore is a puppet of the religious right - instead turned to other sources of funding.

Reed, who now works as a political consultant in Atlanta, did not return a phone call. Gilmore and campaign officials disavowed any knowledge of Reed's effort on the candidate's behalf.

``I don't even know what he's doing,'' Gilmore said in Chatham, where he was campaigning with actor and conservative activist Charlton Heston.

Chris LaCivita, executive director of the state GOP, said he would not be surprised if Reed was trying to help Gilmore - but he wasn't doing it through the state party.

``He wants to help the ticket, so I'm sure he's raising money in some fashion or another,'' he said.

The Republican National Committee, which had donated more than $1 million to Gilmore's campaign as of Oct. 1, has received no contributions in Reed's name, RNC spokesman Tim Fitzpatrick said. However, Reed could work independently on Gilmore's behalf.

Fitzpatrick would not say whether the RNC will pay for ads that benefit Gilmore.

Beyer, the two-term lieutenant governor, has criticized Gilmore for his ties to the religious right, including $100,000 he has accepted from Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson. The religious broadcaster donated $50,000 to Gilmore's successful campaign for attorney general in 1993 and the same amount this year.

Such huge donations are possible because Virginia is among only six states that place no limits on campaign contributions.

Beyer has said Gilmore would be beholden to Robertson and obliged to push his conservative agenda, including taxpayer-financed vouchers that could be used to pay children's private school tuition. Gilmore disputes the claim.

Gilmore has benefited in the past week from former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder's decision not to endorse fellow Democrat Beyer.

``At this point, the campaign is going so well for Gilmore that he doesn't need Ralph Reed's ads,'' said University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato. ILLUSTRATION: Ralph Reed KEYWORDS: GUBERNATORIAL RACE CANDIDATE RALPH REED

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu