Warner Overwhelms Foe in GOP Senate Primary: Miller Says He'll Back Incumbent

Cain, Andrew, Bowman, Rex, The Washington Times (Washington, DC)

RICHMOND - Sen. John W. Warner yesterday beat back a challenge from party conservatives and trounced James C. Miller III by a 2-to-1 margin in Virginia's Republican primary.

With 99 percent of the ballots counted, the three-term incumbent had 318,446 votes, or 66 percent, to Mr. Miller's 167,698, or 34 percent.

Mr. Warner's victory culminated what his backers called a fight for the soul of the state GOP. The senator angered party activists by refusing to back Oliver North, the GOP's Senate nominee in 1994, or Michael P. Farris, the party's nominee for lieutenant governor in 1993.

"Virginians are a people who put their country first, who put Virginia first," the senator told a boisterous crowd at the Hotel Jefferson at 8:55 p.m., shortly after Mr. Miller conceded and called the senator to offer his support.

The landslide shows that "leadership, honesty and integrity count in this state," the senator said.

Taking a sheet of paper from his …

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Publication information: Article title: Warner Overwhelms Foe in GOP Senate Primary: Miller Says He'll Back Incumbent. Contributors: Cain, Andrew - Author, Bowman, Rex - Author. Newspaper title: The Washington Times (Washington, DC). Publication date: June 12, 1996. Page number: 1. © 2009 The Washington Times LLC. COPYRIGHT 1996 Gale Group.

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