DATE: Tuesday, November 25, 1997            TAG: 9711250583

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MATTHEW DOLAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   54 lines

EARLEY'S RESIGNATION SETS OFF RACE DEMOCRATIC WIN WOULD END GOP EDGE IN SENATE

After a decade as a state senator, Attorney General-elect Mark L. Earley resigned Monday, triggering a special election, probably in December, for his seat.

``It has truly been a privilege and an honor to serve the citizens of the 14th Senatorial District in the Virginia General Assembly,'' Earley wrote to Gov. George F. Allen. ``I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to serve the citizens of our great Commonwealth as the next attorney general.''

Earley's resignation, which came on the same day the state Board of Elections certified the Nov. 4 elections, will be effective Jan. 13.

Aides said Allen plans to call today for a special election to select Earley's replacement. That election should be held Dec. 16, officials said. The district includes parts of Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.

With 22 days to that probable election date, the race for Earley's seat has become a blitzkrieg. Republican Del. J. Randy Forbes and Chesapeake School Board member James L. Wheaton, a Democrat, announced their candidacies within days of Earley's Nov. 4 victory as attorney general.

Forbes plans to hold a fund-raiser today with GOP candidates who were swept into office only weeks ago. Wheaton said Monday that he has scheduled several small fund-raising events for his campaign.

Both candidates expect to attend forums at the NAACP and the Farm Bureau in Chesapeake next month.

Republicans took the three top statewide offices on Election Day, and the GOP has a tenuous hold on the state Senate. The body is divided equally - 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans - with Republican Lt. Gov.-elect John H. Hager as the critical tie-breaking vote.

If Republicans lose the 14th District seat, which they have held for a decade, some party officials said it would be more difficult for Gov.-elect James S. Gilmore III to push through his agenda.

Other candidates who may wish to appear on the ballot as independents have five days after the governor calls for a special election to submit signatures to the State Board of Elections from 250 voters in the district to qualify, said M. Bruce Meadows, the board's secretary. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos

MOVING UP

An election for Attorney General-elect Mark L. Earley's vacant

Senate seat will probably be held Dec. 16.

MOVING IN

Republican Del. J. Randy Forbes, top, and Chesa-peake School Board

member James L. Wheaton, a Democrat, are campaigning for the seat. KEYWORDS: SPECIAL ELECTION CANDIDATE VIRGINIA SENATE RACE

14TH SENATORIAL DISTRICT

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