THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 29, 1994 TAG: 9411290292
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEC KLEIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Will George and Pat bury the hatchet? Will Jim and Mike take on John? Will Ollie rise again like the phoenix?
As the world turned Monday, Gov. George F. Allen met privately with 20 state Republican leaders in the name of party unity.
The goal: a Republican takeover of the General Assembly in next November's elections to match this month's GOP takeover of Congress.
All 140 seats will be up for grabs in the state Capitol. Democrats hold a slim margin in both chambers: 22 to 18 in the Senate, 52 to 47 in the House of Delegates (with one independent).
``I'm pleased we're all going forward in the same direction,'' Allen said after emerging from the hourlong meeting in the Governor's Mansion.
All appeared to go swimmingly as the gathering sipped coffee and sodas around a long table in the mansion dining room. They agreed to focus on winning control of the General Assembly in 1995 rather than dwell on two tantalizing campaigns in 1996: the presidential race and the fight for U.S. Sen. John W. Warner's seat.
``There was no quibbling, really,'' said Del. S. Vance Wilkins Jr., House minority leader.
``Haven't seen that many smiles in a room in a long time,'' said J. Scott Leake, executive director of the Joint Republican Caucus.
For all of the apparent goodwill, Republicans have a few wrinkles to iron out. For one, Allen and Patrick M. McSweeney, chairman of the state Republican Party, have yet to patch things up in a long-running power feud. Said the governor: ``My views as far as Pat McSweeney, they haven't changed, but that doesn't preclude us from working together in 1995.''
What's more, some party leaders are still upset that Warner, the state's senior Republican, refused to back GOP nominee Michael Farris in last year's race for lieutenant governor and campaigned actively against Oliver L. North, the party's choice in this year's Senate race.
Warner's actions have invited a bevy of potential GOP challengers to his re-election. Among them are Farris, a home-schooling advocate, and James C. Miller III, a former Reagan budget director who lost this year's Senate nomination to North.
Miller attended Monday's private gathering, and Farris was represented by his aide, Doug Domenech. Warner strolled out of the meeting, unfazed: ``The governor showed tremendous leadership,'' he said. ``. . . '95's the goal.''
There was one notable absence among the GOP luminaries: Ollie North.
``He's not making any public (comments) for a little while, but he sent me with a message of rebuilding our party,'' said North emissary Mark Merritt.
North has yet to say whether he will climb back into the political ring. ``He's not putting anything on the table,'' Merritt said, ``or taking anything off the table.''
KEYWORDS: REPUBLICAN PARTY VIRGINIA by CNB