THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 3, 1995 TAG: 9510030258
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: ELECTION '95
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 156 lines
It was dark, and the lights from the swimming pool were casting a blue shimmer through everyone's plastic cocktail glasses.
But in Dimitrios Rerras' eye was the unmistakable sparkle of green.
Greenback green. Each of the two dozen minglers at the Republican's campaign party Sept. 26 meant at least a $30 donation - small pickings in the modern age of six-figure campaigning, but a blessing nonetheless for a political underdog.
Then Virginia Beach Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle - running uncontested for his seat - showed up, slapped Rerras on the back, called him a fabulous Republican and planted a $500 check in his hand. And the event became a comparative windfall.
``Hey, that's just terrific,'' Rerras said with an excited look, accepting one of the largest single contributions of his campaign.
``Well, I'll do what I can to help Republicans,'' Stolle blushed.
Try $70,000 worth of help. That's how much cash Stolle had available in September. Stolle collected the money for his own re-election, but he'll share it with other GOP candidates for the General Assembly.
The concept is not a new one: Candidates can spend campaign money on just about anything but personal expenses, so legislators often donate a few thousand excess dollars to their partisan colleagues in trouble.
But while such intra-party benevolence has historically been little more than a political blip, this year it has become a potent campaign phenomenon. Stolle and a group of unopposed Republican senators, who need just three more seats to control the state Senate, will soon flood Republican coffers with nearly half a million dollars from their own campaign accounts.
The practice has made a handful of sitting legislators - many with designs on leadership positions if their party wins a majority - into influential benefactors like never before.
And while Democratic political action committees have money available, and are poised to distribute it, the handful of Democrats running uncontested have relatively little to share.
And it has angered some lobbyists and other campaign contributors who say they no longer can be sure just what their donations are supporting.
``It certainly has attracted some attention,'' said Sen. Thomas K. Norment Jr., R-Williamsburg, the leading Senate philanthropist with almost $100,000 in the bank.
The 10 Senate Republicans without opposition this year had almost $475,000 in cash on Aug. 31, while senators with feeble challenges can add about $130,000 more.
The four uncontested Democrats have less than $60,000 among them.
Legislators without opposition generally need $5,000 to $10,000 to cover basic expenses, such as sending a few mailings and keeping their offices open. So, like Stolle, Republican senators already have begun to spread the excess around - particularly to four sitting senators facing vigorous challenges.
A computer survey of campaign finance records show Republicans already had exchanged almost $33,000 by September. Sens. Robert L. Calhoun of Alexandria and Edgar S. Robb of Charlottesville have been the primary beneficiaries, with Chesapeake Sen. Frederick M. Quayle and J. Brandon Bell of Roanoke also on the gift list. In the next six weeks, they will probably get thousands more.
Also collecting some money has been Republican Ed Schrock, who is running against Virginia Beach Democrat Clarence M. Holland. On Schrock's financial report, filed with the state, underneath a $1,000 donation from Norment, is the handwritten note ``for now.''
And the unwritten traditional rules of campaign financing seem also to have blurred in the House of Delegates, where unopposed incumbents continue to hold fund-raisers and solicit donations they don't need for themselves. Richmond Del. John Watkins, for instance, raised $25,000 over the summer, though no one is running against him. Watkins, who has sought leadership positions in the party, distributed more than $6,000 in August among 18 Republican candidates around the state.
``If one of our challengers loses by a point or two, and an incumbent still has $25,000 in the bank, he's going to have a lot of explaining to do,'' said Rob Catron, Schrock's campaign manager.
``This is a once-in-four-years chance, and for some it will be their last chance. It's no time to be cautious.''
Said Stolle: ``It's put-up or shut-up time.''
Many Democrats paint all that election-year largess as simply an effort to buy favor within the party. Insiders know that Norment has an eye on the Senate Majority Leader post under Republican rule. Current Senate Republican leader Joseph Benedetti has plans of his own, and already has contributed to 15 GOP Senate candidates.
Others criticize the practice as a way to skirt reporting requirements by lumping contributions together under one name rather than showing each individual source.
And some of those sources are angry that their generosity is, this year, being recycled. Supporters of one candidate could be inadvertently supporting another - or helping defeat someone they like.
``We have a limited number of dollars, and we have to target those dollars very carefully,'' said Kate Webb, a lobbyist for the Virginia Hospital Association.
``Now, once we give that money over to someone, we don't know where the heck it's going to go.''
Some legislators feel the same way. When Republican Del. Pete Giesen announced his retirement from the General Assembly early this year, he sent a letter to supporters asking their permission to donate his campaign funds to other candidates. Three asked for their contribution to be returned.
``I felt like that was the equitable way to do it,'' Giesen said. ``After all, they gave their money to Pete Giesen, not someone else.''
But in a year of such political consequence, most seem more worried about votes than image. ``I'm committed to focusing my energies and resources to help Republicans,'' said Norment, who also represents the Eastern Shore. ``And, yes, that means a commitment from my campaign treasury as well.''
In fact, Norment, Stolle and others say they began telling supporters months ago that their contributions would probably be used to help other Republicans. The senators raised money assuming they would have to campaign for re-election, and didn't realize until late spring they would be unopposed. So they make no apologies.
Besides, Republicans hardly have cornered the market on pools of partisan cash. Democratic political action committees and party organizations had some $600,000 available at the end of last month and have likewise begun distributing it among needy candidates.
Several House members with large treasuries - such as House Speaker Thomas W. Moss of Norfolk and Alan Diamonstein of Newport News - also have used some of their funds to win the state, not just their own races.
Moss donated $10,000 to Ed Plunkett, an Augusta County Democrat trying to unseat Del. S. Vance Wilkins. The Republican leader in the House, Wilkins would probably replace Moss as speaker under GOP rule.
But Republicans have more candidates than the Democrats this year, forcing many Democratic heavyweights to spend money in their own districts. In some long-shot districts, Republicans acknowledge privately, candidates were offered more to force the Democrats to spend money than out of hopes of winning.
That's why Virginia Beach Del. Glenn Croshaw, the best-endowed unopposed Democrat, said he plans to distribute a portion of his $90,000 to a few races in and around Hampton Roads. But just a portion. Democrats have been quicker to criticize the practice than Republicans, but they also have far less money available to spread around.
``I don't think people would mind me giving money to someone who has helped me accomplish things in the General Assembly - someone with a similar philosophy,'' Croshaw said.
``But to give it away to everyone in the party regardless of their views? I don't think people would appreciate that. It's a decision each candidate can make, but I don't feel comfortable with that.'' ILLUSTRATION: CASH ON HAND
For uncontested Republican senators on the Sep. 15 finance
reports.
Thomas K. Norment Jr., Williamsburg 93026.13
Warren E. Barry, Fairfax 76796.30
Kenneth W. Stolle, Virginia Beach 69692.25
Stephen H. Martin, Richmond 59203.26
John H. Chichester, Fredericksburg 57901.90
William C. Wampler Jr., Bristol 36671.21
Jane H. Woods, Fairfax 35506.54
Joseph B. Benedetti, Richmond 34640.96
Kevin G. Miller, Harrisonburg 5729.40
Malfourd W. "Bo" Trumbo, Fincastle 5622.86
Total GOP 474,790.81
KEYWORDS: CAMPAIGN FINANCE by CNB