ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 8, 1996 TAG: 9602080031
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
Not all Democrats are backing state Sen. Virgil Goode of Rocky Mount, who announced on Tuesday that he's running for the congressional seat being vacated by L.F. Payne, D-Nelson County.
Goode, who enraged some fellow Democrats with his actions over the past few months that helped put Republicans on virtually even footing in the state Senate, appears to have the support of many party leaders in Payne's 5th District.
But that doesn't include the district's Democratic chairman, Carl Eggleston of Farmville, who said Wednesday that he's actively seeking other candidates.
"We're going to find somebody. If push comes to shove, I might run, myself," the funeral home operator said.
Many Democrats don't understand where Goode is coming from and can't trust him, Eggleston said Wednesday.
Eggleston went on to say that some Democratic state legislators - whose districts overlap Payne's - are leery of Goode, even though they appeared at his announcement on Tuesday and voiced their support for the candidate.
Last month, state Sen. Louise Lucas of Norfolk criticized Goode for supporting a shared power structure in the state Senate between Democrats and Republicans. Lucas said then that Goode must be "out of his mind."
But Lucas attended Goode's announcement Tuesday and said she'd rather support a Democrat than have a Republican win the congressional seat.
Said Eggleston of the situation: "You can't stand up there and support him one day and two weeks ago have called him a crazy man.''
Democrats criticized Goode for orchestrating the historic power-sharing agreement in the state Senate last month that benefited Republicans. Goode said it would be only fair to give the GOP an equal share of committee assignments and chairmanships because the membership in the Senate is now deadlocked with 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans.
Democrats had held a majority in the state Senate - and on the chamber's committees - since the 1870s.
Goode's stance effectively killed a plan favored by most Democratic senators that would have given Lt. Gov. Don Beyer, also a Democrat, the authority to break the organizational tie vote and put Democrats in charge of all Senate committees.
The Senate organizational plan pushed by Goode came on the heels of his unwillingness to publicly endorse a fellow Democrat - Claude Whitehead of Pittsylvania County - in a House of Delegates election in November.
Whitehead's opponent, incumbent Del. Allen Dudley, R-Rocky Mount, was re-elected convincingly. The Dudley campaign believes Goode's actions had an impact on the election, and Republicans in Southside won't soon forget what Goode - who has never indicated that he's thinking about switching political parties - has done over the past few months.
Said Eggleston: "Virgil can't go off and be a road to himself. He needs to be held accountable; he needs to talk to people. He didn't give an explanation for the things he did - explanation being the key word here.
"I'm not saying that I could never support him. If he comes down and wants to talk and we reach an agreement, that's another story."
Eggleston said Democrats are tentatively scheduled to pick a nominee to succeed Payne at a May 11 convention at noon at Buford Middle School in Charlottesville.
Staff writer David M. Poole contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICSby CNB