DATE: Tuesday, October 21, 1997             TAG: 9710210275

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   63 lines

WILDER WILL NOT ENDORSE CANDIDATE

Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder said Monday night he will not make an endorsement in the race for governor, a move seen as a rebuke of Democrat Donald S. Beyer Jr.

Wilder, speaking on his weekly radio program, said he hopes Virginians will look at the records of the candidates, Beyer and Republican James S. Gilmore III, and not at who is or isn't backing them.

``I want to make it clear, as of tonight, I will not be endorsing any candidate and will wish them both well,'' Wilder said.

Both Beyer and Gilmore had sought Wilder's endorsement before the Nov. 4 election, which polls show is deadlocked. President Clinton called Wilder on Oct. 6 to seek his endorsement for Beyer.

The backing of Wilder, the nation's first elected black governor, is considered crucial in mobilizing black voters, who traditionally vote for the Democratic candidate.

By refusing to make an endorsement, Wilder likely damaged his fellow Democrat and former ticketmate as much as if he had endorsed Gilmore, political analysts said.

``I think no endorsement can be seen as nothing other than a rebuke of Don Beyer,'' said Mark Rozell, a political scientist at American University in Washington. ``It's especially harmful in this stage of the campaign to publicly endorse no candidate when Beyer needs help courting black voters.''

Robert Holsworth, a Virginia Commonwealth University political analyst, speculated that Gilmore ``is a very happy guy right now, largely because Wilder is a very influential man who has been a Democrat who is not supporting his opponent.''

Voters had watched for weeks to see whether Wilder would take sides in the race. The former governor had publicly criticized Beyer in recent years, including Beyer's December 1996 race relations summit, which he called ``political opportunism.''

Wilder said on the radio show that he has ``said nothing . . . to harm either of the candidates.''

However, earlier in the broadcast, he told a caller that Beyer was of no help in passing the one-gun-a-month law that Wilder championed as governor.

``He wasn't there when the roll was called,'' Wilder said.

Page Boinest, a spokeswoman for Beyer, said: ``We certainly respect his opinion. It would have been nice to have had Governor Wilder's voice in this race.''

Gilmore did not immediately return a telephone call.

Wilder long has been viewed as a maverick Democrat. He ran as an independent in the 1994 U.S. Senate race, then withdrew and for weeks refused to embrace Democrat Charles S. Robb, his sometimes bitter party rival.

Two weeks before the election, however, Wilder endorsed Robb, who was re-elected over Republican Oliver North by 3 percentage points, largely by dominating the black vote.

``Wilder's motivations are always difficult to read,'' said Rozell. ``He marches to his own beat. He is always full of surprises. . . . I'm not surprised - given Wilder's history as well as his history of following his counsel and not following the expectations of others.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder KEYWORDS: ENDORSEMENT ELECTION CANDIDATE GUBERNATORIAL RACE

VIRGINIA

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