Party Officials

WASHINGTON -- Rejected by voters, David Duke quit the Republican presidential race yesterday and said he would not run as an independent in the fall.Mr. Duke did not win a single delegate and finished last in Louisiana, his home state, with 9 percent of the primary vote last month."I think you have heard the last of him as a political candidate but not as a person involved with political movements," said Bill Moore, a political scientist at the College of Charleston in South Carolina who follows Mr. Duke's career closely.

ANNAPOLIS -- Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton made another personal bid last night for the backing of Democratic Party regulars in Maryland's March 3 presidential primary, emphasizing his party credentials and sharply denouncing President George Bush.Representatives of Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin and Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey urged the party regulars at the meeting to consider their man. Representatives of a fourth Democratic candidate, former Massachusetts Sen. Paul E. Tsongas, were also present. Mr. Tsongas will speak today at the University of Maryland law school in Baltimore.

When they graduated from Georgetown University in 1968, Thomas L. Siebert and Bill Clinton went separate ways. Clinton eventually becoming governor of Arkansas and Siebert became an attorney in Annapolis.They were reunited last night at a fund-raiser at Siebert's house -- one of several such events former classmates have hosted for Clinton, a leading Democratic presidential candidate."It's a generation thing," said Siebert. "This is effectively the first baby boom candidate to mount what we think will be a credible challenge to the existing structure."

Several ranking Democrats, with the tacit approval of Gov. William Donald Schaefer, have launched an effort to remove Maryland Democratic Party Chairman Nathan Landow.Criticism of Landow reached a crescendo last week after a bruising fight over congressional redistricting, when several party officials gave him a four-page letter that blasted what they said was a domineering and cavalier leadership style."We have tried from the earliest days of your tenure to help you," the letter reads. "We have pleaded with you at times to allow us to help you. But to no avail."

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's ruling party was faced yesterday with an open revolt challenging the authority of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari and senior party officials in the key central state of Guanajuato.Officials of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) were pleading late yesterday with about 2,000 party militants to vacate the state legislature.About 15,000 militants stormed the legislature late Friday and early yesterday morning, preventing the 26-member body from naming an interim governor.

BEIJING -- As the party chief of a huge iron and steel company, Guan HDeng commanded 80,000 workers. Before investigators finally caught up with him, he also enjoyed two mistresses and a stash of several hundred thousand dollars.As a general manager for one of China's largest overseas construction companies, Liu Guoxiu lived a life of wine, women and song in Thailand. Before he was arrested, he filed six false expense reports, obtaining more than $250,000.As chief cashier of a branch of the Chinese People's Construction Bank in Beijing, Li HD knew how to get money to invest in his private businesses.

TOKYO -- The secretary-general of Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu's governing party resigned yesterday after his candidate for governor of Tokyo took a whipping from an 80-year-old incumbent.Resisting two days of intense pressure to stay on from Mr. Kaifu and the chief power brokers of his own faction within the Liberal Democratic Party, Ichiro Ozawa insisted on taking responsibility for a backfired attempt to dump Gov. Shunichi Suzuki.To cheers of "Banzai!" -- 10,000 years, a traditional Asian wish of long life -- Governor Suzuki savored his lopsided fourth-term win yesterday morning at a victory ceremony at the recently dedicated, twin-towered City Hall.

WASHINGTON -- The Republican National Committee plans to lay off about 25 percent of its full-time workers this week, party officials said yesterday.The staff layoffs, which could come as early as today, were termed a "restructuring" by RNC officials. They come barely a week after a midterm election many politicians regard as a disappointment for President Bush and his party.Mary Matalin, RNC chief of staff, said that the national headquarters staff of about 300 full-time employees would be reduced by at least one-fourth and that an unspecified number of part-time workers would also be let go.Those being dismissed will remain on the payroll until the end of next month.

CHESTERTOWN -- A lot of Republicans believe Wayne T. Gilchrest would have beaten Rep. Roy P. Dyson, D-1st, in 1988 if the party had supported him.This time, the Republican Party can't wait to help Gilchrest.Two officials from the National Republican Congressional Committee showed up at Gilchrest's headquarters here yesterday hours after he beat seven Republicans in the 1st District primary."They were asking us how they can help us get our message across to the voters," said Gilchrest, weary but pleased following his victory.