Mark Warner defeats Gilmore for Senate seat

By NEIL H. SIMON
Media General News Service
Published: November 4, 2008

McLEAN -Former Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner defeated Republican James S. Gilmore III Tuesday night, giving Virginia two Democratic U.S. senators for the first time since 1970.

Television networks called the race moments after polls closed.

“I’m ready to get to work,“ Warner said just after 10 p.m. to a crowd of more than 1,000 supporters at a victory party inside the Hilton McLean Tyson’s Corner hotel.

Warner was leading Gilmore 63 percent 35 percent with 85 percent of precincts reporting.

Gilmore, who called Warner to concede, later delivered a concession speech, saying: “The people have spoken.“

Despite voters giving Democrats significantly more power in the new Congress, Warner said he’d work from the political middle and reminded voters of the business experience he’ll bring to Washington.

“With all of the recent excesses on Wall Street,“ Warner said, “it might be time to send a few more senators up there that can actually read a balance sheet.“

Standing with his wife and three daughters, Warner was greeted by a packed ballroom of people who came to cheer his victory.

“The U.S. can really use him right now,“ said Anh Nguyen of Reston, who praised Warner’s work as a fiscally conservative governor.

Retiring Republican Sen. John Warner (no relation to Mark Warner), 81, did not seek a sixth term.

In an election year when Democrats sought to gain nine Senate seats for a filibuster-proof, 60-vote majority, Virginia’s open seat was viewed from the start as a contest Democrats could count on winning.

“It was never a race,“ said political scientist Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “Warner was viewed as a very successful governor, and, in retrospect, Gilmore was not.“

Gilmore tried to paint Warner as an enemy of religious, gun-owning, conservative voters, but nothing seemed to stick.
Gilmore was further hurt by a divided Virginia Republican Party and political trends that heavily favored Democrats, who were more united behind Warner and presidential candidate Barack Obama, political observers said.

“Warner essentially captured that middle of the road terrain that Gilmore needed,“ said Charles Dunn, dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University in Virginia Beach. “I don’t know that (Gilmore) resonated anywhere.“

John Warner did not endorse fellow Republican Gilmore in the race and expressed disappointment in Gilmore’s opposition to a $700 billion Wall Street bailout packaged that became law in October. Mark Warner supported the plan.

Mark Warner outspent Gilmore nearly 10 to 1 in the race. Warner spent $18.5 million through mid-October, according to the Federal Election Commission, to Gilmore’s $1.9 million.

Warner, who made his fortune in the cell phone technology business in Northern Virginia before entering politics, campaigned on his record as a “radical centrist” Virginia governor.

He left the governor’s office in January 2006 with approval ratings north of 70 percent. In the Senate, Warner will join fellow Democrat Jim Webb, who narrowly won his seat in 2006.

Two senators from the same political party can often lead to “overt or covert competition,“ said Dunn. “Webb may want to get himself out there more to prove himself for his next election.“

Sabato predicts few conflicts as the two men don’t share common career goals. “Warner is ambitious. He wants to be president,“ Sabato said.