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Gov. Tim Kaine stands atop a chair for an interview Gov. Tim Kaine, Sen.-elect Mark Warner and Sen. Jim Webb celebrate Warner's victory over former Gov. Jim Gilmore last night. |
McLEAN--
Democrat Mark Warner easily won election to the U.S. Senate seat, marking the first time since 1970 that Virginia has had two Democratic senators.With 89 percent of precincts reporting, Warner took 63 percent of the vote to beat Republican Jim Gilmore in a race to fill the seat long held by retiring Sen. John Warner.
Gilmore had 35 percent of the vote. The results are unofficial, and some precincts were still being counted as of press time.
Both men are former governors; Mark Warner's term followed Gilmore's.
In 1970, Virginia's two senators were Democrats--Sen. Harry F. Byrd Jr., and William B. Spong. Byrd switched to Independent status and Spong was defeated for re-election by Republican William Scott.
Warner, a popular governor, built his campaign around a promise to be bipartisan and work for solutions to problems over ideologies.
"Tonight, by a record margin, Virginians said they want their next U.S. Senator to focus on results, not rhetoric," Warner said at a victory party in Fairfax County. "The challenges we face are a lot more about the future versus the past. As long as we face that future and avoid the political divisions of the past there is nothing we can't accomplish as Americans."
Warner said he is "ready to get to work," especially on fiscal issues.
"My first two years as governor, I spent a lot of time trying to take Virginia out of a fiscal ditch left by a Republican administration. That may be the best training possible for being a United States Senator come January," Warner said. "With all the recent excesses on Wall Street it might be time to send a few more senators up there who can actually meet a balance sheet."
Warner also said he will continue to seek John Warner's advice, and said he will push for energy innovation.
Gilmore conceded the race shortly after 9 p.m. in a phone call to Warner and a speech to supporters gathered in Glen Allen, near Richmond.
There, he promised to continue being an advocate for the issues on which he ran, such as domestic oil production, protection of Virginia's right-to-work law, and lower taxes and government spending.
The lopsided election results echoed polls that for months showed Warner with a large lead.
Gilmore had difficulties from the start, barely winning his party's nomination at a convention and then struggling to raise crucial dollars to fund his campaign.
The two clashed bitterly in three debates and other appearances. They disputed who was to blame for a budget shortfall in 2002, they disagreed on the federal financial bailout, and Gilmore repeatedly reminded anyone who would listen that Warner broke a promise not to raise taxes.
Warner said he was forced to raise taxes because Gilmore hid the scope of a budget shortfall.
Gilmore ran a campaign focused on his own tax-cutting record, and on a promise to drill oil domestically to help reduce oil prices.
In the end, Warner's message gained much more traction than Gilmore's, in part because Warner could afford to put his message out in television ads.
Warner also boasted the support of Republicans, such as former state Sen. John Chichester of Stafford, whom Warner thanked in his speech last night.
Indeed, far more voters chose Warner than chose presidential candidate Barack Obama, suggesting--as do Associated Press exit polls--that Warner benefited from split-ticket voting.
Warner especially thanked voters in rural areas with difficult economic problems, such as Southwest Virginia and Southside Virginia.
"In a 21st-century economy, you shouldn't have to leave your hometown to find a world-class job," Warner said. "To all those folks in rural Virginia, I didn't forget you as governor, I won't forget you as senator."
Warner joins Sen. Jim Webb, now Virginia's senior senator after just two years in office. Webb won his seat in 2006 in an upset over George Allen.
"We're going to have a Senate where we're going to get things done," Webb said. "We are finally going to have a government in this country where people really want to solve the problems."
Gov. Tim Kaine, who succeeded Warner, said the election of two Democratic senators is "an amazing thing," and praised Warner as a "problem-solver."
Emily Battle: 540/374-5413
Email: ebattle@freelancestar.com
