DATE: Monday, May 5, 1997                   TAG: 9705050044

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:  128 lines

WILL MONEY MAKE A DIFFERENCE? CANDIDATES' FUNDS VARY AS WIDELY AS THEIR STRATEGIES, FROM AD BLITZES TO GRASSROOTS EFFORTS.

In politics, just as in life, money can buy shortcuts.

So Gil Davis, a little-known Northern Virginia lawyer, plans to keep adding to the $620,000 from his personal and business bank accounts that he's already sunk into his quest for the Republican nomination for attorney general. His goal is to purchase instant name recognition among voters by launching an expensive television campaign.

``Gil's said he's willing to spend what it takes to win,'' says Michael Slanker, his campaign manager.

In contrast, State Sen. Mark L. Earley of Chesapeake is seeking the nomination the old-fashioned way: He's organizing grassroots support.

Earley doesn't plan to invest a penny of his tight, publicly funded campaign budget on television advertising. Instead, resources will be concentrated in mobilizing the state's potent social conservative vote. He has some high-powered help: Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson gave Earley $5,000 late last year.

Two other candidates - state Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle of Virginia Beach and former Secretary of Public Safety Jerry G. Kilgore of Gate City - are somewhere in between. Each promises a blend of television advertising and grassroots campaigning.

Which approach works will be an interesting lesson of the June 10 primary. With the GOP candidates for governor and lieutenant governor unopposed, fewer than 10 percent of the state's 3.3 million registered voters are expected to cast ballots to fill the bottom of the slate with an attorney general candidate.

Analysts say almost anything could happen in the four-way election where the nominee may need to muster only 75,000 votes or fewer to win. ``The primary could be an utter disaster in turnout,'' says Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist.

Voter participation is expected to be light. For starters, Virginians are unaccustomed to primary elections. In the past, the parties usually nominated candidates at state conventions - a tradition state Democrats will uphold next weekend in Richmond.

Republicans, however, were left with little choice but to hold primaries after a 1996 U.S. Supreme Court ruling saying they could no longer require delegates to pay filing fees to attend conventions. The decision left the party unable to afford staging conventions.

Over the past decade, Republicans have held two primaries for statewide office and turnout was about 14.8 percent for each. But those were high-profile affairs - a three-way gubernatorial race in 1989 and a heated battle last year for the U.S. Senate nomination between incumbent John W. Warner and former federal budget director James C. Miller III.

But the attorney general's office is hardly as glamorous as that of governor or senator. The last time Virginia held a primary when only a lower spot on the ticket was at stake was in 1949, when the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor was at stake. Turnout in that election was 6 percent.

This year, few substantive differences on policy have emerged between the candidates who have largely trumpeted their commitment to fighting crime. Each has concentrated on convincing Republicans that he will be the most electable candidate this fall against Bill Dolan, a Northern Virginia lawyer who is unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

But their strategies for winning the primary seem worlds apart.

Davis, the wealthiest candidate in the field, has funded his first run for statewide public office almost entirely from his wallet. He has supplemented his $550,000 personal investment with $70,000 in contributions from his law firm. He has raised only $42,000 from other sources.

Campaign manager Mike Slanker says Davis has little choice but to advertise himself as the most accomplished lawyer in the group. Davis worked three years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the early 1970s. Among his clients today is Paula Jones, the woman who is seeking to sue President Clinton for sexual harassment.

``TV is the most efficient way to get our message out,'' says Slanker, who acknowledges that Davis lacks the political connections of his opponents. ``We can meet more people through TV than any other way.''

Slanker is unapologetic about Davis' self-financing ways. ``These other guys have been furthering their political careers for years while Gil has been tending to his legal practice,'' he says. ``Gil has a lot of ground to make up.

``Besides,'' Slanker adds, ``I'd rather have a guy dependent on putting some of his personal money in than someone who's dependent on special interests to get it.''

Earley's success, in contrast, is almost entirely dependent on his grassroots connections. His longstanding efforts to pass a law requiring parental notification before physicians can perform abortions on patients under 18 - which finally succeeded this year - have endeared him to evangelical activists. A former missionary, Earley also has strongly backed unsuccessful efforts to ban late-term ``partial-birth'' abortions and approve a ``parental rights'' amendment to the state Constitution.

Earley has been endorsed by two of the most influential social conservative leaders in the state: religious broadcaster Pat Robertson and Walt Barbee, president of the Family Foundation.

Evangelicals traditionally mobilize and vote in high numbers in Virginia. In a low-turnout election, Earley is hoping their commitment will be enough to carry the day.

Conversely, religious conservatives in Virginia have never been strong bringing in big money for their candidates in Virginia. As a result, Earley has raised about $208,000 and had less than half of that left in the bank, according to an April 15 report with the state Board of Elections.

Television is too costly, although Earley does plan to do some radio advertising. ``We're targeting our efforts on the grassroots; on the people who are most likely to vote.''

Stolle's campaign has a combination of financial clout and organization. The former policeman and now attorney who bills himself as ``top cop'' has raised $660,000 in public contributions, about 75 percent of which has come from his home city of Virginia Beach.

Although Stolle had spent about three-quarters of the sum by the end of March, he was predicting he would raise at least another $300,000 to fund a healthy television advertising campaign.

Stolle is also banking on an influential network of locally elected officials throughout the state to stimulate votes for him on June 10.

Kilgore is the poorest of the candidates, having raised a total of $160,000 and having only $40,000 in the bank at the end of March. Even so, his campaign is promising to make a modest stab at television advertising combined with what it hopes will be strong support from Southwest Virginia.

Campaign manager Mark White says advertising is nice, but nothing will replace the value of grassroots organization this spring.

``When you're talking about low turnout, you're talking about bringing people to the polls who are hard-core Republicans that vote again and again,'' he said. ``These folks know the candidates, and most of them have already made up their mind on their favorite. I'm not sure media will affect them.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos

[Gil Davis]

[Mark L. Earley]

[Jerry G. Kilgore]

[Kenneth W. Stolle] KEYWORDS: CAMPAIGN FINANCING CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS PRIMARY

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