Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 11, 1993 TAG: 9303110225
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By Associated Press
DATELINE: FAIRFAX LENGTH: Medium
PARRIS MULLING POLITICAL COMEBACK
Former Rep. Stan Parris is deciding whether to give up his appointed federal job for another run for the House of Representatives, a newspaper reported Wednesday.The Washington Post said that if Parris, 63, decides on a comeback he would run in the newly created 11th District against first-term Democratic Rep. Leslie Byrne.
"Stan and I have talked about it, and there are people who are encouraging him to do it," said Patrick Mullins, chairman of the Fairfax County Republican Committee.
Parris was out of the country and not available for comment, according to his office.
After his loss to Rep. James Moran Jr. in 1990, then-President Bush appointed Parris as the head of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp., a $108,000-a-year federal post from which he cannot be removed by President Clinton.
To run for Congress, however, Parris would have to give up the job. Federal employees are prohibited by the Hatch Act from engaging in politics.
"If Stan didn't have that position, he would 100 percent run for the 11th District," Mullins said. "That's the thing he's weighing back and forth."
Republicans said Parris probably would not challenge Moran because the 8th District has been redrawn to include more traditionally Democratic areas.
The 11th District, which stretches from Reston through central Fairfax to eastern Prince William County, is more evenly split between Republicans and Democrats.
Byrne won in November with 50 percent of the vote.
Byrne said Parris' conservatism would not do well in the 11th District.
"The district is almost overwhelmingly pro-choice and pro-gun control, and given his previous record, he'd have to have a 180-degree turn," she said.
Keywords:
POLITICS