Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 26, 1993 TAG: 9310260257
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
On Saturday, just two days after Blacksburg residents complimented Rush and Democrat Shuler on running such an issues-oriented race, a circular from the Christiansburg Republican arrived in Blacksburg mailboxes.
"Jim Shuler: A Doug Wilder Democrat," it advertised. "Stop the waste. Stop the Doug Wilder/Jim Shuler Liberals."
The flier, in none-too-subtle fashion, links Shuler with the "borrow and spend policies" of the governor, including the plan to "waste $20 million of your hard-earned dollars" to pay for a new headquarters for the state Lottery Department in Richmond.
Shuler, a Blacksburg veterinarian, held up the flier during a campaign forum Sunday on Blue Ridge Public Television.
"In spite of a recent inflammatory mailing by my opponent, I will continue to stick to the real issues," he said. "The only thing true in this mailing is that I am a Democrat."
Rush, however, on Monday rejected the suggestion that the flier represented negative campaigning.
Because Shuler is running as a successor to Del. Joan Munford, D-Blacksburg, and as a supporter of past Democratic administrations, criticism of the lottery building is fair game, Rush said.
Unknown to Shuler on Sunday, an anti-Rush flier also was making its way to the 12th District from a Texas-based direct-mail company.
Shuler's campaign chief, Paul Mitchem, said Monday he sent the company an overnight letter and a fax last week, asking that it not mail out the negative campaign ad. But the piece, prepared by the state Democratic Party, went out over the weekend.
Mitchem managed to stop the mailing Monday before it arrived in the New River Valley. "The Shuler campaign will not be running any negative attack pieces," he said.
The now-spiked flier criticized Rush for his 1992 Montgomery County Board of Supervisors budget decision involving state educational-disparity funds, a topic that came up during an Oct. 14 campaign forum in Blacksburg.
Shuler decided against using the ad, despite insistence from others in the party that he had to attack Rush, Mitchem said. "For Jim, it's a lot more than politics," Mitchem said. "He feels strongly that, win or lose, whatever he does in this campaign, he still has to live here; he still has to earn a living."
Rush's use of the lottery building controversy is no surprise. The state Republican Party targeted the project in August after failing to block its approval during the General Assembly's April veto session.
Munford, who is retiring from the 12th District seat, was among the House of Delegates majority favoring the project. GOP legislators have vowed to introduce a bill to repeal its funding.
The $145 million Virginia Public Building Authority bond package includes $17 million for the Lottery Department headquarters and funds for three state prisons and a new forensics laboratory in Roanoke.
The state initially had estimated the lottery headquarters cost at approximately $20 million, but lowered the estimate during the April session. The bond package did not require voter approval because the borrowing is financed through lottery profits and other revenue sources, not general-fund tax revenues.
The flier, however, does dovetail with Rush's assertion that he represents a change and Shuler the status quo. In it, Rush states that the money to be spent on the lottery building could be used instead for education, law enforcement or settling the long-standing lawsuit by federal government retirees, who want the state to refund illegally collected tax payments.
Meanwhile, campaign finance reports filed Monday show Shuler continued his significant fund-raising and spending lead over Rush.
Rush, a delivery driver, reported raising $3,433 from Oct. 1 through Wednesday. That brings his total to $11,682. His unspent balance was $3,612.
Shuler, meanwhile, raised $6,630 in the first 20 days of this month. He's raised a total of $41,350 and had $5,910 left to spend as of Wednesday.
Shuler spent $15,200 of his campaign kitty this month, mostly for printing, mailing services and campaign staff salaries.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB