THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 10, 1996 TAG: 9604100411
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
Businessman Mark R. Warner has racked up a substantial lead over two political opponents in signing up delegates to support him this spring for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate.
Warner has registered three times as many candidates for delegate as his closest opponent, former U.S. Rep. Leslie Byrne, according to figures released Tuesday by the state Democratic Party.
With about 60 percent of the state reporting, Warner has filed the names of 2,631 people who are seeking to become delegates in his behalf at the Democratic state convention in June. Byrne filed a slate of 879 delegates and Nancy Spannaus - a supporter of controversial political figure Lyndon LaRouche - listed 106 delegates.
Reports from Democratic committees in the rest of the state are expected to be filed today.
The delegates will seek election to the state convention at a series of local Democratic caucuses to be held around the state on Saturday and Monday. The candidate who turns out the most supporters at each of the meetings will get his or her delegates elected.
A total of 3,500 delegates will be elected to the June 7-8 state convention in Hampton. Votes by at least 1,751 delegates win the nomination.
Warner's success in signing up delegates suggests that he has a broader and deeper base of support across the state than Byrne. In South Hampton Roads, Warner has filed more than six delegates to every one of Byrne's, and in Roanoke he holds a 3-to-1 lead.
Even in Fairfax County - which Byrne represented in Congress in 1993 and 1994 - Warner held a 2-to-1 lead in delegate filings.
Byrne said the delegate filings are only the first in a series of steps toward the convention and that she plans to remain in the race. She questioned whether Warner will be able to turn out enough supporters at the mass meetings to get his delegates elected.
``For three years, he's been declaring victory for this seat and it's just not true,'' Byrne said of Warner.
Warner, a former state Democratic Party chairman, said he was gratified by his support but declined to declare victory.
The Democratic candidates met in Virginia Beach on Tuesday afternoon to participate in the only scheduled debate of the campaign. Byrne and Warner expressed agreement on a host of major issues. They called for increasing the minimum wage, more spending on education and early intervention programs such as Head Start, pledged to protect Social Security and Medicaid, and denounced corporate greed and layoffs.
Despite their widespread agreement on issues, Byrne said her two years in Congress and seven years in the House of Delegates enabled her to ``articulate our differences with the Republicans better than anyone else.''
Warner, who has made a fortune in the cellular phone industry, said his understanding of technology and the changes it is forcing on the workplace make him the best qualified candidate for the future.
Warner said during the debate that, if elected, he would propose a $10,000 tax deduction for middle-class families seeking to pay college tuitions or for technical training. Later, he was unable to provide any details about how his plan might work. ``Let me get back to you on that,'' he said.
The Senate seat is occupied by three-term incumbent John W. Warner, who is in a tough fight for the Republican nomination against James C. Miller III, a former federal budget director. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Leslie Byrne
Nancy Spannaus
Mark R. Warner by CNB