
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, August 21, 1993                   TAG: 9308210195
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

POLLS SAY RACE CLOSER, BUT TERRY NOT WORRIED

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Sue Terry said Friday that it is much too early to fret over reports that she may be losing ground to Republican George Allen.

"The campaign is just now starting," Terry said in an interview at her Richmond campaign headquarters. "Most folks will really begin to focus on this race after Labor Day, and we feel comfortable where we are."

The Washington Post reported Thursday that polls last month for the Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor and attorney general showed the gubernatorial race neck-and-neck.

A political action committee for Oliver North, the Iran-Contra figure and likely candidate for the GOP nomination for Senate next year, released a poll Friday showing Terry and Allen locked in a tie at 41 percent apiece.

"We haven't done any polls since June," Terry said. But she said the campaign is "well-positioned" for a concerted push beginning next month.

"I can't tell you where the race is, except to say that our race is not about polls, it's about issues," the former two-term attorney general said. "We've always said this is going to be a competitive race."

Allen campaign manager Mike Thomas said the polls show the former congressman "is closing the gap on Mary Sue Terry as voters become more familiar with the records of the two candidates."

"Clearly polls will bounce up and down between now and Election Day, but the recent trend is extremely encouraging," Thomas said.

While the Terry campaign was downplaying the polls, Allen's aides were battling speculation that his fund-raising efforts are not going well. The speculation was prompted by Allen's decision this week to stop running television ads.

"The people of Virginia want to talk about the issues," Thomas said in a news release. "They aren't interested in talking about process and fund raising."

Nevertheless, the Allen camp announced Thursday that it has received pledges from 100 supporters in northern Virginia to raise $1 million.

The most recent campaign finance reports showed Terry with $2.8 million on hand; Allen had $280,000.

Keywords:
POLITICS

by CNB