DATE: Saturday, October 25, 1997            TAG: 9710250405

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   36 lines

POLL CHARTS GILMORE AS LEADING BEYER

After 10 months of deadlock, Republican James S. Gilmore III has staked out a ``marginal'' lead over Democrat Donald S. Beyer Jr. in the race for governor, according to a new poll.

Gilmore held a 47-to-42 percent lead over Beyer in a telephone survey of 824 registered voters conducted Oct. 20-22 by Mason Dixon Political/Media Research of Columbia, Md.

The poll showed Gilmore leading in all areas of the state except Beyer's home base of Northern Virginia.

Previous polls had shown Gilmore and Beyer running even since January.

``This could be the first sign that the race is finally breaking for Gilmore,'' said Brad Coker, president of Mason-Dixon. He said Gilmore seems to be in a strong position moving toward the Nov. 4 election - reaping the benefits of a larger campaign treasury than Beyer, the popularity of his promise to end personal property taxes on most cars, and the endorsement of incumbent Gov. George F. Allen.

White voters favored Gilmore, 54-to-37 percent. Blacks favored Beyer, 69-to-12 percent. But Coker said the fact that a ``very high'' 19 percent of blacks say they are still undecided may indicate that Beyer will have a difficult time turning out the traditionally-Democratic black vote at the polls.

That task may have been made harder earlier this week when former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, who is black, declined to make an endorsement in the gubernatorial race.

The results are similar to a poll published Wednesday by The Washington Post, which found Gilmore with a 7-percentage point lead. The Mason-Dixon survey has a margin or error of plus or minus 3.5 percent. KEYWORDS: POLL GUBERNATORIAL RACE

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