DATE: Saturday, November 29, 1997           TAG: 9711290232

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                   LENGTH:  116 lines

POLITICAL SAVVY IS HIS STRONG SUIT NEWLY ELECTED, REPUBLICAN AND BLACK, PAUL C. HARRIS HAS PLANNED THIS FOR YEARS.

When he was 9, Paul C. Harris watched the Watergate hearings and knew that politics was his calling.

It was neither the jolting revelations of the event nor its sheer force on history that impressed the child, whose mother worked three jobs to support her family.

``I had no idea of the intricate details,'' Harris said. ``What I saw were individuals who wore suits and had the power to overthrow the president. And I decided I wanted to be like them. I wanted to be someone who grew up and wore a suit because people who wore suits were important.''

Harris, 33, assuredly will be wearing one of his well-tailored suits on Jan. 14 when he is sworn in as the first black Republican elected to the General Assembly since the Reconstruction era following the Civil War.

Unapologetically conservative and ambitious, Harris is eager to assume the role as point man in the state Republican Party's long-frustrated efforts to attract minorities. He says his own life story is an example of how an old-fashioned work ethic is all anyone needs to succeed.

``Everyone has the ability to be strong,'' says Harris, a lawyer who was elected by an overwhelmingly white Charlottesville constituency to sit in an open House of Delegates seat once filled by Thomas Jefferson and, more recently, by Gov. George F. Allen.

``The strong are those determined to work the hardest,'' he added. ``Those who work the hardest get ahead. That's the beauty of America.''

Harris opposes racial hiring and contracting job quotas. He avidly supports GOP efforts to reform welfare. He is sympathetic to those who wish to fly the Confederate flag.

His conservative outlook, talent as a speaker and charismatic style have left many Republicans agape. ``He'll be governor one day,'' predicted former state Sen. Edgar Robb, R-Charlottesville.

Republican leaders see Harris as a symbol that the party is expanding its influence with blacks. But others wonder whether he's an anomaly. Political scientists note that exit polls showed that about 19 percent of blacks cast Republican votes for governor this fall - the same percentage that cast GOP votes in the 1993 gubernatorial election.

And Democrats note that Harris was elected from a district that is 91 percent white. ``Harris' election doesn't suggest any kind of trend to me when it comes to African-American voting because there are only a handful of African-American voters who live in his district,'' said Del. Jerrauld C. Jones, D-Norfolk.

Jones, who is chairman of the General Assembly's Black Caucus, has invited Harris to join the group of 14 Democrats. Harris is not sure whether he'll accept.

``I am of the view that the people of this district elected me to represent their interests, and that's the only goal I'll take with me to Richmond,'' he said. ``If joining the Black Caucus helps my district, then I'll join.''

Staying focused always has been central to Harris.

He refuses to talk about his father, who was never around. His mother worked a variety of jobs to support Harris and his two siblings.

He has pleasant memories of growing up in Charlottesville. Those memories are centered around church and a klatch of caring adults he called uncles and aunts even though they weren't kin.

Harris was a scrawny kid, not good at sports but a whiz in the classroom. Then there were the Watergate hearings. Harris didn't have any suits to wear to fourth grade. But he started carrying a green briefcase with a buckle to school in his first effort to copy powerful people.

He began reading biographies of politicians and realized that most of them followed routes to power through the military or law. So Harris vowed to become a soldier and a lawyer. He taped pieces of yellow paper to his bedroom wall listing weekly, monthly and long-term steps for reaching his goals.

``Listing goals became a liberating experience for me,'' he said. ``Rather than acting like the immediate person I was, I began acting like the person I wanted to be 10 years down the road.''

Harris went to a military prep school on a scholarship. His next stop was Hampton College, where he became an ROTC commander and student government president. He graduated cum laude.

That was during the early days of the Reagan administration. Harris was impressed by the president. He also idolized Secretary of State Al Haig, a former NATO commander and Army general who symbolized everything Harris wanted to be.

``I began to express conservative views in the classroom, and one of the professors said, `There's a word for people like you - Republican,' '' Harris recalled. ``I took it as an insult at first, because the Republican Party had been so disparaged by my peers. Then I started doing some research and realized the professor was right.''

After college, Harris went on to officers training school and four years in Army intelligence, then law school at George Washington University. He graduated in 1995 and returned to Charlottesville to work for the McGuire, Woods, Battle & Boothe law firm. Harris is married and has three children.

Early this year, a seat in the House of Delegates opened when Republican Peter T. Way of Charlottesville announced he would not seek re-election. Harris jumped in, winning a spirited nomination fight and then taking the general election with 63 percent of the vote.

Harris says he will go to Richmond with the intent of fully supporting the Republican agenda of cutting car taxes, reforming welfare and instilling more accountability in public schools.

In his election, he sees hope for both the Republican party and blacks. ``I think we're seeing the start of something that 20 to 30 years from now could be significant,'' he said. ``Blacks, historically speaking, should be conservative, because they haven't had much to get by on,'' he said. ``The Republican agenda of lower taxes, creating jobs and promoting self-sufficiency offers so much, and if we can enlighten, people will listen.''

Harris cuts a fine figure in suits these days. His trim build, erect posture and close haircut reflect his military background. His eagerness to lead suggests a politician who wants to rise.

He still lists his long-term goals on sheets of yellow paper. But like most ambitious pols, he declines to discuss them. ``Some things are best kept secret,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Paul C. Harris

ASSOCIATED PRESS

``Everyone has the ability to be strong,'' says Paul C. Harris, a

GOP lawyer who won the seat once held by Thomas Jefferson. KEYWORDS: PROFILE

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