DATE: Saturday, September 6, 1997           TAG: 9709060321

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY SPENCER S. HSU, THE WASHINGTON POST 

                                            LENGTH:   85 lines

GOVERNOR'S RACE DRAWING NATIONAL ATTENTION

A day after Vice President Gore helped raise $500,000 for Donald S. Beyer Jr.'s Democratic campaign for Virginia governor at a McLean dinner, another political heavyweight - House Speaker Newt Gingrich - was the honored guest at a reception in Potomac Thursday night that brought in tens of thousands of dollars to the campaign of Beyer's Republican opponent.

Neither Beyer nor Republican James S. Gilmore III did much to publicize the events outside Washington, which were private and did not include photo or interview opportunities - perhaps, critics said, because neither candidate wanted to pose with a politically troubled national leader.

But the fund-raisers were a reflection of how national figures such as Gore and Gingrich, R-Ga., are pouring into Virginia this year to help fuel what is on course to be the most expensive governor's race in state history.

Virginia is one of only two states with a governor's campaign this year, and there is no incumbent in the race because Republican Gov. George Allen is limited to one term. In New Jersey, Republican Gov. Christine Todd Whitman faces a re-election fight against Democratic state Sen. Jim McGreevey.

But with polls indicating a close race between Beyer, Virginia's lieutenant governor, and Gilmore, a former state attorney general, Virginia's campaign is seen by both political parties as something of a referendum on the policies they have pushed in Congress and state legislatures in recent years.

Months after President Clinton and the Republican-led Congress forged a balanced-budget agreement that delivers tax cuts as well as increased social spending, both national parties are focusing on Virginia's race to see which party may benefit from the centrist politics emanating from Washington.

In nominating Beyer and Gilmore, each party has put up a candidate who represents themes it has cultivated over the past year. Victory for Gilmore and his plan to slash the state's personal property tax would bolster Republicans' hopes that tax-cut proposals could be effective in next year's congressional elections.

Democrats, meanwhile, say that if they capture this Southern governorship back from the GOP, it would be a sign that voters believe in their business-friendly focus on education, worker training and targeted tax cuts.

``It is a classic modern Democrat-Republican campaign,'' said Donald R. Sweitzer, former political director of the Democratic National Committee and now a consultant. With a strong economy giving many states - including Virginia - budget surpluses, the nation is ``debating the proper and responsible role of state and federal government. In that context, Virginia will reverberate and affect how the campaigns and issues are framed in the 1998 congressional elections.''

Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson agreed.

``Jim Gilmore's proposal to cut taxes . . . has set the terms of debate in Virginia,'' just as the Republican Congress did this summer by backing cuts in capital gains and federal income taxes, he said. ``The power of Republican ideas is evident in Virginia and Washington today and will continue to dominate the political debate in 1998.''

The national interest in Virginia's campaign is evident not only from the candidates' puffy campaign treasuries - Beyer and Gilmore together had raised about $9.3 million by the end of July - but also from the roster of political stars who have dropped by fund-raisers.

At the reception Thursday night for Gilmore at the home of real estate investors George and Janice Kettle, GOP donors paid as much as $10,000 each to attend and chat with Gingrich, who is still a political attraction to many big-money conservatives despite his lagging approval ratings.

Beyer's reception featuring Gore - which, to the delight of Republicans, came about the time the Justice Department announced it would review the vice president's solicitation of campaign contributions last year - raked in a staggering $500,000 for Beyer. Couples paid $10,000 to have dinner at the McLean home of Sen. Charles S. Robb, D-Va.

National GOP sources have given Gilmore about $386,000 directly, and the state Republican Party had given an additional $153,000 as of the end of July, with more promised. Democrats are tighter for cash, but national committees have given Beyer $50,000.

Gilmore's staff advertised a parade of GOP luminaries who have held or pledged to hold fund-raisers, including former President George Bush, former Vice President Dan Quayle and 1996 vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp. Others included former presidential candidate Malcolm S. ``Steve'' Forbes; Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.; Sen. Fred D. Thompson, R-Tenn.; Rep. Bill Archer, R-Texas; and Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Okla.

Beyer's campaign hosted a luncheon anchored by Gore's wife, Tipper. Former Texas Democratic Gov. Ann Richards will appear at a Women for Beyer event in Alexandria next week. The campaign also was the beneficiary of a luncheon with North Carolina Democratic Gov. Jim Hunt at a restaurant on North Carolina's Outer Banks. KEYWORDS: ELECTION CANDIDATE FUNDRAISING

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