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

DATE: MONDAY, November 6, 1995                   TAG: 9511060029
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ASSEMBLY RACES

IN 1991, the last time all 140 General Assembly seats were up for election, this newspaper endorsed three Republicans, two Democrats and one independent (running against a Democrat) in contested assembly races in this region. In one, the battle for the state Senate seat from the district that includes Roanoke city and part of Roanoke County, we expressed no preference.

This year, while endorsing both Democrats and Republicans in local supervisors' races, we have endorsed only Democrats in the eight General Assembly contests in the region.

We are recommending the re-election Tuesday of state Sen. Madison Marye of Montgomery County; the election to the Senate of Roanoke Vice Mayor John Edwards; the re-elections of Dels. Richard Cranwell of Vinton, Clifton "Chip" Woodrum and Vic Thomas of Roanoke, Jim Shuler of Blacksburg and Creigh Deeds of Bath County; and the election to the House of former Pittsylvania County supervisors Chairman Claude Whitehead.

One reason for the contrast from four years ago is that several solid Republican incumbents - state Sen. Bo Trumbo of Fincastle, Dels. Tommy Baker of Dublin and Morgan Griffith of Salem - are unopposed this year, as is independent Del. Lacey Putney of Bedford. In a contested race, all might well have received our endorsement. All but Griffith, completing his first term, have received it before, and he is doing a good job representing his district.

Another reason for the contrast is the quality of the Democratic candidates in local contested races. Six of the eight are incumbents who - like the unopposed Republican incumbents cited above - are part of an unusually strong regional delegation that gives this part of Virginia legislative influence beyond its numbers. Defeat of any of them or, even more so, the transition of either house to GOP control, would transfer a good portion of that influence from Southwest Virginia to populous Northern Virginia.

A third reason for the contrast is our belief in the value of maintaining a General Assembly that can continue to act as a curb against the excesses of a Republican governor with his head too often in ideological clouds. The quality and character of individual candidates are still important, of course, but the state's outlook is at stake in Virginia's 1995 legislative elections to a degree unprecedented in recent years.

This is politics, not Armageddon. Should the GOP take over one or both houses of the General Assembly, mainstream Republicans such as Trumbo, Baker and Griffith would be around to act as voices of common sense against the extremist impulses within their party. After all, legislative resistance to ill-considered and unexpected gubernatorial initiatives - whether the politicization of heretofore nonpartisan state agencies; or the attempted gutting of worthwhile and ultimately cost-saving programs such as community-based mental health services or Meals on Wheels; or the fiscal attacks on higher education - did not come from Democrats alone.

Neither did support for other parts of the governor's agenda come from Republicans alone. In helping pass parole reform and welfare reform, both of which the governor had campaigned on, legislative Democrats acted responsibly.

In the end, maintaining Virginia's tradition of responsible, prudent governance is the fundamental issue. In this particular year, with this particular Republican administration in power, re-electing Democratic majorities to the General Assembly would, on balance, be good for the commonwealth.

Keywords:
POLITICS

by CNB