General Retreats From Senate Bid
Retired Officer Won’t Run for Warner’s Seat, Citing Attacks

By Craig Timberg
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 26, 2001; Page B4

RICHMOND, Sept. 25 – Retired Lt. Gen. Claudia J. Kennedy has decided not to run against U.S. Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) next year, leaving state Democrats without a frontrunner in the race against the four-term incumbent.

Kennedy said today that a long-shot run for the Senate became less appealing after the Sept.‚11 attacks, which caused the deaths of several former colleagues at the Pentagon. The plane hit the building not far from where Kennedy, a former head of U.S. Army Intelligence, once had an office.

"For now, I just feel like all of our energy, all of our focus needs to be on overcoming this crisis," she said.

Kennedy said she may someday seek elected office, but she acknowledged that the prospect of raising the $10‚million or more she would have needed to run a credible campaign against Warner proved daunting. Aides said the massive fundraising effort was made more difficult by the terrorist attacks, which turned national attention away from partisan politics.

"It was a difficult decision for General Kennedy," said veteran Democratic operative James F. Mulhall, who was advising her. "There's simply not enough time to put that kind of money together."

The prospect of a candidacy by Kennedy, 54, excited party leaders, even though she had no experience in elected politics. She was the highest-ranking female officer in U.S. Army history, a background that Democrats thought might match up well against Warner, a former Navy secretary and former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

But Kennedy lacked the personal financial resources of Mark R. Warner, the party's candidate for governor, who leads in the polls despite a lack of experience in elected office.

"I'm sad she's decided not to do it because she's an exceptional person," said Lawrence H. Framme III, co-chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party, who predicted that Kennedy may yet seek a role in state politics. "The party sure needs her."

Framme said no other candidate has directly expressed an interest in running against Warner.

Kennedy, who lives in southern Fairfax County, ended her military career on a controversial note when she accused a fellow general, Maj. Gen. Larry G. Smith, of sexual harassment. Smith was reprimanded and retired last year, but the episode remains a subject of sharp debate with the military.

Warner, 74, suspended fundraising after the Sept.‚11 attacks on Washington and New York. But aides said he is eager to run for reelection and has more than $1‚million in the bank and a campaign office in Alexandria.