DATE: Wednesday, April 30, 1997             TAG: 9704300564

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   71 lines

COLEMAN ANDREWS QUITS RACE 6 WEEKS BEFORE THE ELECTION JOHN HAGER, THE ONLY REPUBLICAN IN RACE, WILL FACE L.F. PAYNE IN THE FALL ELECTION.

The Republican Party's longest, best-financed bid to seize the lieutenant governor's seat ended Tuesday when Northern Virginia Republican Coleman Andrews scrapped his campaign six weeks before election day.

The 42-year-old Northern Virginia businessman told a Capitol news conference that a recent medical concern with one of his children requires more attention than a full-time candidate can give.

With the deadline for entering the race a month past, Andrews' move makes former tobacco executive John Hager the only Republican in the lieutenant governor's race.

He will face Democrat L.F. Payne in the November general election.

``Forced to choose between meeting my commitments to my three children and running for office, I have to subordinate everything else to being a dad,'' Andrews said. He didn't give details about his family's situation.

The announcement touched off the state capital's political circles like a brush fire.

Few could believe that a man generally regarded as the Republicans' hands-down favorite would scrap a campaign so close to the June 10 primary.

Even top Republicans said they didn't see Andrews' announcement coming.

Said one GOP source: ``He campaigned for years, there are only six weeks left and everyone expects him to win. It must be a real good reason for him to stop now.''

Andrews started running informally two years ago, presiding over a hefty political action committee he used to finance Republican legislative campaigns around the state.

In the process, he built a network of supporters around Virginia that most Republicans felt was too formidable for any of his opponents to surmount.

Andrews was the clear victor in the first contest of any campaign: Fund raising. As of this April he had raised more than $1.4 million for the 1997 campaign. He still had $558,000 in the bank. After his five-minute announcement in the Capitol, Andrews told reporters he will pay his staff, then refund the balance of his money to contributors. He will issue a ``strong recommendation'' that contributors support Hager's campaign.

Andrews is the president and chief executive officer of WorldCorp., a software and computer systems company and the parent company of World Airways.

The $300 million company has had financial trouble recently, a detail the Republican said played no role in his decision to withdraw.

Andrews and his wife, Susie, have three children: Coley, 16, Alexa, 13, and Abigail, 6.

For several months, Andrews said, he and his wife have dealt with a medical condition involving one of their children.

A development in the last several days caused them to ``reassess'' the amount of time he needed to spend at home, he said.

Andrews would not say which of his children is ill or describe the medical condition, telling reporters: ``I've reached as far as I can reach to answer your legitimate concerns without compromising my concerns for my family.''

A spokesman for Democrat Payne said he, too, was surprised by Andrews' announcement but was happy to learn early who his opponent will be.

With the Republican primary for lieutenant governor now unnecessary, the only statewide race June 10 will be between four GOP candidates for attorney general. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Coleman Andrews said a recent

medical concern with one of his

children requires

more attention

than a full-time

candidate can give. KEYWORDS: CANDIDATE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR'S RACE VIRGINIA

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