THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 31, 1996 TAG: 9610310299
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: Decision '96
SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 74 lines
Elsie Goodwyn Holland, the Republican candidate for the 3rd District, says her staunchly conservative political leanings are the result of her modest and disciplined upbringing in rural Dinwiddie County and her family's self-reliance.
``We didn't have a lot, but my mom and dad never took anything from anyone,'' Holland said. ``We didn't even know if government programs existed, and it didn't matter. We wouldn't have gotten into them.''
They had a garden where they grew their own food. And, she said, ``My grandmother, who had diabetes, lived with us, and we took care of her.''
And despite the prejudices and limitations associated with being black and female, Holland, 61, started school at age 4 and went on to earn a doctorate in education from the University of Virginia. She is now an assistant school principal in the Richmond public school system. All of her four siblings went to college and entered the working world.
Holland said she is running for a seat in a state where blacks were once slaves, rural women were not always educated, and women could not vote until 1920, ``because I can.''
But she hopes that along the campaign trail, her ideas about family, education and personal responsibility will rub off. Her first target in Washington, if her uphill battle to unseat Rep. Robert C. ``Bobby'' Scott is successful, would be welfare.
She does not plan to soften her words when going after programs for the poor and needy. She believes in motivating the homeless by ``kicking them out of shelters,'' and discouraging teen-age and single motherhood by ``cutting them off the public rolls.''
She said, ``We need to cut entitlements and stop this belief that somehow developed that the government owes you a living. People don't want to hear that. I guess I'll never get elected.''
But, Holland insists she is not ``mean-spirited, as the Republicans in the 104th Congress are so often called.''
Among other places, Holland volunteers as a mentor through the Links, a black women's service organization. The community - individuals and local businesses - can fulfill its own needs by supporting youth programs, religious institutions and schools, she said.
``Women need to get out to see how exciting it is to make a living with your own skills,'' she said. ``Of course they can acquire them, but not under this system. And they'll never know what it's like to be independent.''
Holland said she knows her quest for a congressional seat is a long shot, but, ``It's important not to let him run unopposed. There are other opinions out there that should be heard.''
Like Scott, Holland believes education and crime prevention are bedrocks of a sound economy and civilized society. But Holland sharply disagrees with Scott on the role the federal government should play.
Decisions affecting the state and localities should be made at that level, especially in the schools, said Holland, whose career in education dates to 1955 when she was a new teacher at Chesterfield County Elementary School.
Even Scott called her ``a qualified candidate'' based on her resume - which, in addition to her education and community service, includes two university board appointments and work on a U.S. Agriculture Department citizens advisory committee.
But Holland has a number of disadvantages.
Scott has raised nearly 14 times as much money. Holland, who works full time, campaigns only on Saturdays. And the 3rd District, created in 1991 as a majority black district, is among the most Democratic in the state.
While she believes more women and minorities should serve in Congress, she doesn't believe the 3rd District, currently under court review, is constitutional because of racial gerrymandering. She said it won't and shouldn't survive the court challenge.
Her theory: More minorities could be elected if they weren't all clumped together into one district.
``If I get the chance,'' she said, ``I'll run for another office.''
KEYWORDS: PROFILE CANDIDATE U.S. CONGRESSIONAL RACE
ELECTION ISSUE 3RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT JOB INTERVIEW by CNB