THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, March 9, 1996                TAG: 9603090426
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                           LENGTH: Short :   44 lines

GOP PARTY CHIEF SUES TO RESTRICT STATE PRIMARY HE'S FILED A SUIT TO BAN VOTING BY DEMOCRATS, OTHERS.

The chairman of the Virginia Republican Party on Friday filed a lawsuit seeking to ban Democrats and independents from voting in the party's U.S. Senate primary in June.

Such a ruling could hobble the re-election drive of Sen. John Warner, a Republican who is popular statewide but made enemies in his party when he campaigned against Oliver North, the Iran-Contra figure who ran for the Senate in 1994.

The suit was filed against the Virginia Board of Elections, in U.S. District Court here. Under Virginia law, any registered voter can participate in a party primary. The Republican chairman, Patrick McSweeney, asked that the open-primary law be declared an unconstitutional infringement on the party's First Amendment rights, and its right of free association.

State Republican officials have said they would like to require primary voters to sign a loyalty oath to the party. McSweeney, a Richmond lawyer who is popular with Christian conservatives, drew headlines last fall when he said that before allowing another official to prevail in the party, ``I would first cut his heart out with a rusty can top.''

If the law were overturned, the main beneficiary would be Warner's opponent in the primary, James C. Miller III, who was budget director under President Ronald Reagan. On the stump, Miller, 53, calls Warner, 69, a ``Clinton Republican'' and an ``arrogant old bull.''

Miller said the primary should be closed. ``If you were having a party at your house, you could keep out a bunch of rowdies who wanted to disrupt,'' he said. ``Crossover voters are really Warner's only chance of getting votes.''

Warner, who is seeking a fourth term, said in a statement, ``Republicans do best - and win their elections - when we welcome more people into the party, not discourage people from it.''

KEYWORDS: REPUBLICAN PRIMARY LAWSUIT by CNB