ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 8, 1996 TAG: 9612090071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
It was booze vs. sparkling cider, brownies against eclairs, Ken Stolle taking on Mark Earley.
Republicans, choose your side.
Friday night, the two state senators from South Hampton Roads - rivals in the June 10 Republican primary for state attorney general - wooed GOP leaders in hotel suites directly across the hall from each other during a party conference to plot 1997 election strategy.
With the doors to each suite open, the candidates' eyes occasionally met. And their ears must have been burning as Stolle said Earley was soft on labor unions and Earley maintained Stolle was inconsistent on gambling.
Each is a lawyer, 42 and a Republican, and that's where the similarities end. Stolle, of Virginia Beach, is an aggressive, baby-faced man pledging to become the state's ``Top Cop'' and planning to raise more than $1 million to run a high-profile campaign.
Earley is a graying, reflective man seeking evangelical grass-roots support to become an attorney general who would promote ``a reverence for life.''
While the two have attracted much of the early attention in the primary, it's possible both could lose.
That's because there are two other Republicans also running: Gil Davis, a wealthy Fairfax County lawyer who is representing Paula Jones in her sexual harassment suit against President Clinton; and Jerry Kilgore of Gate City, a former secretary of public safety under Gov. George Allen.
The winner likely will face Bill Dolan this fall, a Northern Virginia lawyer who so far is unopposed for the Democrat nomination. Dolan unsuccessfully ran for the post in 1993.
Although attorney general nominations traditionally have been viewed as political sideshows, this four-way race has become the talk of the GOP in a year when there is little competition for other spots on the party's statewide ticket.
Current Attorney General Jim Gilmore is unopposed for the gubernatorial nomination. And Fairfax businessman Coleman Andrews has emerged as a strong favorite over two competitors for lieutenant governor.
With Stolle and Davis planning strong television advertising campaigns, some analysts predict it will cost each of the candidates at least $1 million to remain competitive in the race. Stolle has raised almost $500,000, and Davis has put $500,000 of his own money into his campaign. Fund-raising figures on Earley and Kilgore were unavailable.
Stolle, a former Virginia policeman who never attended law school but passed the bar after studying on his own, is pledging to be a tough law-and-order attorney general. He was elected to the Senate in 1991 and won recognition as the chief patron of Allen's popular bill to abolish parole three years ago.
Earley, a former missionary who was elected to the Senate in 1987, has a broader agenda. ``I want to talk about an organizing ethic that ought to tie politics together in Virginia, and that principle is a reverence for life,'' he said.
Earley said his platform goes beyond his longtime opposition to abortion rights and includes an array of ``pro-family'' programs.
Stolle and many conservative business leaders have criticized Earley for being cozy with labor unions - long the bane of the Republican Party. Earley was endorsed by the state AFL-CIO in 1987, and in 1991 co-sponsored an unsuccessful bill that would have required nonunion workers to pay ``a fair share'' to unions that represented them in job grievances.
Stolle said the bill would have undermined Virginia's right-to-work law, which forbids mandatory union membership. ``The right-to-work law is the cornerstone of our economic development efforts,'' said Stolle, adding that Virginia is able to recruit many industries based on its law making union membership voluntary.
Earley said he misunderstood the bill and regrets co-sponsoring it. He added that he has since supported unsuccessful legislation to make the right-to-work law part of the state constitution.
Earley says Stolle also has a few quirks to explain, such as why he initially backed legislation for riverboat gambling in 1993 and later emerged as a gaming opponent. Stolle said he changed his mind after seeing how quickly gambling interests flocked to the state to lobby.
Stolle and Earley, despite all their campaign accusations, grudgingly still insist they are friends. But Stolle suggests the relationship would be a little less awkward if Earley withdrew from the race.
``I was a little surprised he got in,'' Stolle said, standing outside his hotel room. ``There's an education process after you get into a race, and I think every few weeks a candidate has to make an assessment whether they're viable. I hope Mark and the others will do that.''
A few feet away, in his room, Earley smiled when he was told about the remark. ``Tell Ken to keep raising that money,'' he said. ``He's going to need it.''
Staff writer Robert Little contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines KEYWORDS: POLITICS ATTORNEY GENERALby CNB