DATE: Saturday, November 1, 1997            TAG: 9711010735

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY LEDYARD KING, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: FIELDALE                          LENGTH:   90 lines

GOVERNOR'S RACE HAS A 3RD PARTY CANDIDATE

``Let me take care of something.''

Sue Harris DeBauche is explaining the hardship of running as the gubernatorial nominee for the Virginia Reform Party when the clatter of misbehaving children ricochets from her kitchen.

She sprints from the tidy living room to quell the upheaval. Then the in-home day-care provider returns, apologizing for the interruption in one breath and explaining why she's not on the road campaigning today in another.

``I have to make a living. If I go out, I'd have to pay someone to fill in,'' she said.

For DeBauche, the contrasts with the major party nominees - Republican James S. Gilmore III and Democrat Donald S. Beyer Jr. - couldn't be greater this last week before Tuesday's election.

While Gilmore is flying from Charlottesville toBluefield to northern Virginia making campaign stops, she's changing diapers. While Beyer is holding rallies in Fredericksburg and Falls Church, she's feeding children and making sure they take their afternoon naps.

When she can find the time, she'll drive from her rural Henry County home to a debate in Williamsburg or a League of Women Voters forum in Waynesboro.

``I have not been able to give my full self,'' she laments. ``Any job that I do, I want to do well and I don't think I've been able to do it.''

Beneath her soft-spoken manner is a seething disdain for the political establishment. It is absolutely unfair, DeBauche reasons, that the advantages of the system are tilted toward well-funded, major-party candidates while independents like her must scrap for any recognition.

Even though her name is on the ballot, she was not allowed to participate in a statewide televised debate between Beyer and Gilmore a month ago in Richmond. She sued but the debate took place without her.

The Tuesday before Election Day, DeBauche is at a Waynesboro forum calling for the kind of change that will benefit alternative voices like hers: a $1,000 limit on what any one donor can give a candidate; a ban on out-of-state contributions; the right of people to put initiatives on the ballot if they gather enough signatures.

``We must fight to change the system,'' the 52-year-old grandmother tells those assembled at the South River Restaurant, sounding like a revolutionary. ``That is what I will pledge: Return the power back to the people. We need to make decisions for ourselves.''

She wants to limit government's intrusiveness, saying women can decide about abortion, that the state shouldn't tell people where they can smoke cigarettes and that the tax system should be fairer and more user-friendly.

If her message sounds like the one political maverick H. Ross Perot sells, it's no coincidence. The Reform Party grew out of Perot's efforts five years ago to create a new party committed to change.

She really has no chance of winning. Her goal is to get at least 10 percent of the popular vote, a threshold that will allow her party to retain a place on the ballot for the next statewide contest - the 2000 race for the U.S. Senate.

Beyond this picturesque hamlet near Martinsville, DeBauche (pronounced de-BUSH) is virtually unknown.

With about $1,500 raised as of the last week of the election season, this former development firm executive and nightclub singer has no money for glitzy ads. Friends print bumper stickers and buttons for her when they can. Often, she's tethered to her home because of her child care business.

Gilmore and Beyer have a little more money at their disposal. In early October, Beyer raised about $600,000 at an event with President Clinton. And, in a campaign finance report this week, $1 million from the Republican National Committee showed up on Gilmore's list. And that kind of big money is exactly what DeBauche says is wrong about the system.

DeBauche's appearance on the ballot almost didn't happen. The Reform Party's original nominee, Mamie Moore, bowed out for family reasons. So Reformers turned this summer to DeBauche, who had been named party chairwoman in February.

Several dozen voters interviewed across the state this week said they knew little about DeBauche and didn't plan to vote for her. Even those who listened to her at the Waynesboro forum were not impressed enough to support her.

``She's got some interesting ideas. I really didn't realize she was running until tonight,'' said teacher Rosemary Wagoner, who is backing Beyer.

Chanda McGuffin said the candidate's gender is a plus.

``Being in the business and professional world, I've come to recognize the type of struggle (women face). If I was to vote for her, it's because I recognize that struggle,'' she said. ``I don't think she has a chance to win. It's not because she doesn't have a great platform or that she couldn't do the job. The independents don't have a chance as long as we have the Democratic and Republican parties.''

Sue Harris DeBauche couldn't agree more. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

Sue Harris DeBauche of the Virginia Reform Party doesn't expect to

win the election on Tuesday. KEYWORDS: ELECTION CANDIDATE GUBERNATORIAL RACE VIRGINIA

REFORM PARTY

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