Two Candidates Want to End Va. Lottery

Two Republicans running for Virginia attorney general say they want to repeal the state lottery, raising an emotional issue that has not been considered seriously since voters overwhelmingly approved the games 10 years ago.

Lottery players in Alexandria yesterday predicted a rebellion if the state were to tamper with Lotto, Cash 5, Pick 4 and the rest.

"You mess with people's dreams, and you're going to have fisticuffs," said Raymond M. Young, 49, a catering service driver.

And several parishioners at Bethlehem Baptist Church, a conservative congregation in Fairfax County, said they believe the games -- while sinful -- have become too popular to kill.

"It's like alcohol: Once people have the taste, they can't stop," said church member Suzanne Ratcliffe, 47, a junior high school teacher from Manassas.

Four candidates are seeking the Republican nomination for attorney general in a primary June 10. All have similar political views, so the lottery-bashing appears to be an attempt to stake out the most conservative position.

"The General Assembly will spend every dime they can find, and they made do without the games before," said candidate Jerry W. Kilgore, a former state secretary of public safety.

The other anti-lottery candidate, Sen. Mark L. Earley (R-Chesapeake), said moral opponents of the games are being joined by people who see practical problems, including gambling's effect on poor people and the spread of other forms of gambling, such as parimutuel betting on horses.

"I think that in the years ahead, a consensus will develop that gambling as a source of state revenue is poor public policy," Earley said.

The brouhaha over the lottery illustrates the frequency with which Christian conservatives determine the direction of debate in Virginia, even though they have had trouble electing their favorite candidates.

Opponents of lottery repeal say the state's $332 million in lottery profits last year would be impossible to replace, leading to deep cuts in education or other services.

"In just three years, you're talking about a billion dollars," said state Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle (R-Virginia Beach), a third candidate for attorney general. "It's pretty reckless of someone to suggest this without some proposal to make up the holes in the budget."

The issue arose during a debate in Roanoke on Friday, and the candidates elaborated in interviews over the weekend. The fourth candidate, Gilbert K. Davis, of Fairfax County, could not be reached.

The Democratic candidate for attorney general, Arlington lawyer William D. Dolan III, attacked the calls to eliminate the lottery as "ideologically extreme" and "a not-so-subtle attempt to curry favor with the far-right wing of the GOP."

The Virginia Lottery, backed by 57 percent of voters in a 1987 referendum, sold $924 million in tickets last year. Beginning last year, lottery profits that are transferred to the state have been earmarked for public education. A lottery official said polls have shown that 70 percent to 75 percent of Virginians say they would support the lottery today and that 40 percent to 50 percent are current players.

The Virginia Lottery director, Penelope W. Kyle, said she was shocked that the idea had come up. "It's entirely an issue of whether the Commonwealth of Virginia wants to learn how to exist on a downsized budget," she said.

Gambling also has become a major issue in the GOP primary for lieutenant governor. Conservative leader Michael P. Farris endorsed retired tobacco executive John H. Hager on Friday after learning that the other candidate, Fairfax County businessman T. Coleman Andrews III, once headed a company that planned to profit from wagering.

Andrews said he had the company, WorldGames Inc., disbanded before it began operating. Before it went out of business, however, WorldGames said in a news release that it was "pursuing on-track and off-track wagering applications in California, Florida, Puerto Rico and Australia."

Hager issued fliers Wednesday featuring playing cards and the headline, "Don't Gamble Virginia's Future."

Andrews, too, has raised the possibility of repealing the lottery. The Danville Register & Bee recently quoted him as saying he "wouldn't be surprised" if Virginians take a second look at the lottery.