DATE: Wednesday, November 5, 1997           TAG: 9711050563

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:  264 lines

GOVERNOR: GILMORE'S CAR-TAX PLAN WINS VOTERS; NOW HE MUST WOO ASSEMBLY GILMORE CARRIES ALL MAJOR AREAS OF THE STATE

Riding a pledge to ax the car tax, Republican James S. Gilmore III was elected governor Tuesday and led an unprecedented GOP sweep of the state government's three highest elective offices.

John H. Hager, a retired Richmond tobacco executive beset by polio, was elected lieutenant governor. And state Sen. Mark L. Earley of Chesapeake, a former missionary and leading social conservative voice in the General Assembly, won the attorney general's race.

The results may have fallen micrometers short of being the grand slam that Republicans sought. Democrats managed to narrowly maintain their majority in the House of Delegates.

Still, no sweep of the top three seats had happened since Reconstruction - and perhaps ever. Before the post-Civil War years of 1865-70, records of party affiliation for lower-ticket members were not always kept.

Gilmore, the only child of a Richmond meat cutter, easily defeated Democrat Donald S. Beyer Jr., a two-term lieutenant governor. Gilmore captured 56 percent of the vote, winning in all regions of the state including Beyer's home base, Northern Virginia.

An estimated 47.5 percent of the state's 3.56 million registered voters participated in the election. It is the lowest turnout by percent since 1965.

Accompanied by his wife and two school-aged sons, Gilmore claimed a mandate to cut car taxes during a victory speech shortly after 10 p.m. to a cheering throng of more than 500 Republicans at the Richmond Marriott hotel.

``We will move immediately in this administration to eliminate the personal property tax on cars and trucks,'' he said. ``The General Assembly of this state has a mandate to eliminate the car tax, and I will provide that leadership as governor of Virginia.''

Gilmore, 48, added: ``The people of Virginia have voted for us for our principles, our promises and our records. We will not let the people down.''

Gilmore, who will take office in January, pledged an administration ``where everyone will have a seat at the table.''

Before the rally, as Gilmore sat in a hotel suite watching the vote tally with his family, he was visited by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, who contributed $55,000 to his campaign this year.

Robertson said he resented efforts by Beyer to portray Gilmore as a pawn of the religious right.

``The Virginia voters are too intelligent to fall for a campaign of blatant bigotry,'' Robertson said.

``It backfired on (Beyer), and I hope the Democrats learned a lesson.''

Beyer was upbeat and philosophical in his concession speech. ``Our victories are never final, our defeats are never permanent,'' he said. ``We will be back, we will be back, we will be back.''

U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb, a Democrat, credited the Republicans. ``The Republicans ran a textbook campaign,'' he said. ``It was one of the most disciplined campaigns I've ever seen.''

Gilmore's election assures a vigorous debate in the General Assembly next year over his tax cut plan. Gilmore has proposed phasing out, over five years, the personal property tax on the first $20,000 of assessed value on privately owned cars, trucks and motorcycles.

The Republican estimated the cost of his plan, when fully implemented, at $625 million a year. The Virginia Municipal League, however, believes the pricetag will be close to $1.4 billion a year.

At issue will be whether Democrats - who blasted the cut as an irresponsible drain of needed money for education and transportation - can continue to oppose the popular tax cut with all seats in the General Assembly up for election in just two more years. ``If the Democrats get out in front of this, God help them in 1999,'' said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist.

``It's going to be more of the same good ol' thing around here,'' said one exuberant Gilmore supporter at the Richmond victory rally.

``Gilmore is the man. The car tax did it. The legislature doesn't have to deliver. The people are going to pressure all of them and they are going to cut it because they care about getting elected.''

The results also portend leadership problems from the long-dominant state Democratic Party. The sweep left the party, perhaps for the first time in its history, without a clear front-runner for nomination to statewide office in 2003.

Several analysts predicted that leadership roles may fall to U.S. Rep. Robert C. Scott of Newport News and telecommunications magnate Mark Warner, who narrowly lost a race for the U.S. Senate last year. Will he step up to a leadership role? ``I'm going to stay involved,'' Warner said, noting, ``I'm not a candidate for anything at this point.''

Exit polls by The Associated Press indicated that the car tax was the most decisive issue in the election. Thirty percent of those surveyed said taxes mattered most to them; of that group, 82 percent voted for Gilmore.

He also claimed solid majorities of the vote from those who said family issues or abortion was the most pressing issue to them, according to the survey of 1,148 voters at 26 precincts across the state. The margin of error for the full sample was plus or minus 3 percentage points, and higher for subgroups in the sample.

Gilmore also benefited greatly from the popularity of outgoing Republican Gov. George F. Allen and Virginia's thriving economy. Sixty-nine percent said they had a favorable opinion of Allen, who strongly endorsed Gilmore. Nine of 10 said they were pleased with Virginia's economy.

For more than six months, the race was dominated by Gilmore's pledge to abolish the car tax for most Virginians.

Gilmore, then the attorney general, unveiled the plan last spring when he officially declared his candidacy.

The personal property tax is levied by local governments. Gilmore promised that the state would reimburse localities ``dollar for dollar'' for revenues lost to the repeal. Predicting robust economic growth in Virginia for the next four years, Gilmore said he could pay for his program without cutting services.

Beyer initially criticized the tax cut as short-sighted and irresponsible, predicting it would drain needed money away from public schools and colleges. Two months later, however, he proposed his own plan to give relief from the car tax.

Beyer's program was less sweeping. He proposed giving state income tax credits to many people who paid the levy. Individuals earning up to $40,000 would have been eligible for a maximum $150 credit; families earning up to $75,000 would have been eligible for a maximum $250 credit. Beyer estimated his plan would cost $202 million a year.

Beyer explained his change of heart by saying ``it would be possible, but not probable'' for him to win the gubernatorial campaign without proposing car tax relief.

The proposal soured Beyer's relationships with an influential group of Northern Virginia businessmen who had been arguing that tax cuts would harm education and road building in Virginia. It also seemed to distract Beyer from the initial focus of the campaign - making Virginia's schools ``the best in the nation.'' MEMO: Staff writers Ledyard King, Holly Heyser, Liz Szabo and Matt Dolan

contributed to this story. ILLUSTRATION: Photos

VICKI CRONIS/The Virginian-Pilot

Donald S. Beyer Jr....daughter Stephanie.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

James S. Gilmore III...wife, Roxane...

Graphics

WHAT IT MEANS

[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]

Governor-elect

James Stuart Gilmore III

Republican

What he brings to the office

Family: Born Oct. 6, 1949, Richmond. The only child of Margaret

Evelyn Kandle and James S. Gilmore Jr., a church secretary and a

grocery store meat cutter.

Wife, Margaret Roxane Gatling of Suffolk. Married 1977. Two sons,

Ashton, 10; and Jay, 14.

A working-class sensibility: ``My parents are working-class

people,'' says Gilmore. ``I started working in a grocery store. I

worked as a bank teller. And I haven't had doors opened. I've had to

go create those doors. And I think I have.''

Suburban lifestyle: He lives with his family in Henrico County

outside Richmond. Assessed value of home: $213,300 (land, $55,000;

improvements, $158,300, last assessed, 1995.) Affiliated with River

Road United Methodist Church.

Education and experience:

J.R. Tucker High School, Richmond, 1967

University of Virginia, B.A., 1971

University of Virginia Law School, J.D., 1977

Honorably discharged as a sergeant, U.S. Army, 1974. Joint

Service Commendation Medal, Service to NATO.

Former Virginia attorney general. Stepped down in June to run for

governor.

Former commonwealth's attorney in Henrico County.

What's next for the new governor

Starting today, the governor-elect will set up a transition team,

make appointments to Cabinet posts and generally organize his staff

and develop his action plan.

Dec. 19, 1997, appropriations meeting, outgoing Gov. George F.

Allen will present Virginia's budget for the next cycle. The General

Assembly must approve the budget, which is subject to amendment.

Jan. 14, 1998, the General Assembly will convene. That day, Gov.

Allen will deliver his final State of the Commonwealth speech before

a joint session of General Assembly.

Jan. 17, 1998, inauguration.

Jan. 19, 1998, new governor speaks to joint session of General

Assembly.

The job he says he'll do

His marquee idea and big promise: Cutting the property tax on

personally owned cars and trucks.

His thinking: ``Virginia's hard-working families, who created the

prosperity we enjoy, should get to decide how they will spend more

of their own money rather than the government. The personal property

tax on cars and trucks, in short, is a bad tax.''

The details: Eliminate the first $20,000 of value in personal

property on cars and trucks. State would make up that revenue to

localities ``dollar for dollar'' out of rising state revenues.

The plan would be phased in over five years.

``No Car Tax'' was the theme of his media and yard-sign campaign.

But he said during the campaign that if the economic growth his plan

depends on is less than estimated, he would invest in education

before cutting the tax.

Reality check: Leaders from both parties in the General Assembly

question the wisdom of the tax cut.

Promises and priorities

Improving public schools and educational opportunities

Add 4,000 new elementary school teachers. Local school divisions

could use the new teachers - about five per school - to reduce class

sizes or to provide remedial programs for students not passing

Virginia's new academic standards.

Continue the Board of Education's program to implement the new

Standards of Learning established under Gov. Allen.

Support the Board of Education's new standards that call for

school boards - not parents - to decide whether children should

receive sex education.

Support the board's new policy forcing schools to decide which

position - reading teacher or guidance counselor - the state pays

for.

Give teachers and administrators more disciplinary power, and

expand the use of alternative schools for those with serious

discipline problems.

Require criminal background checks of new school employees who

work with or near children.

Consider the use of vouchers, which would give tax credits to

parents who sent their children to private schools.

Provide teachers with liability insurance and, thus, immunity

from frivolous lawsuits as a result of maintaining discipline in

their classrooms.

Making college more affordable

Continue the pre-paid tuition program.

Establish the New Century Scholars Program to make $2,000 a year

in undergraduate scholarships available to Virginians who graduate

from high school with B averages, score in the top 20 percent on a

standardized test to be implemented in Virginia schools, and have

good conduct records.

Continue the tuition freeze.

Maintain the Tuition Assistance Grant program to provide $2,000

annual grants to Virginians attending private colleges and

universities in the state.

Commit to vocational work force training at Virginia's community

colleges by continuing Gov. Allen's program of tax credits for

businesses that pay their employees' tuition for non-credit worker

training classes.

Creating jobs and developing Virginia's economy

Create a Cabinet-level chief information technology officer, who

would help develop ``a pro-technology business climate'' in

Virginia.

Order all Cabinet agencies to develop plans linking regional

economic cooperation efforts to support regional job creation.

Build a ``Coalfields Expressway'' through southwest Virginia.

Build a third crossing in the Hampton Roads area.

Develop a light rail system linking Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

Open at least four new enterprise zones.

Increase tourism marketing.

Create a $15 million incentive fund to reimburse movie producers

up to 10 percent of the cost of filming a movie in Virginia.

Making our communities safer

Make bail harder to get for someone with a previous record by

enacting a presumption of dangerousness for convicted felons caught

with guns.

Increase penalties for gang-related crimes.

Enact stiffer penalties for drug dealers and drug users who

possess guns and use guns.

Toughen restrictions on out-of-state criminals who want to move

to Virginia after release from prison.

Hire retired military and police officers to run boot camps in

middle schools for young lawbreakers.

Establish an ``unqualified'' sex offender registry so that

communities, schools and families can be promptly notified before

any sex offender moves into their community.

Enact a violent-sexual-predator act similar to the Kansas law to

keep dangerous sexual predators out of our neighborhoods and away

from our children. KEYWORDS: ELECTION VIRGINIA RESULTS

GUBERNATORIAL RACE VIRGINIA

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