As the retirement of Sen. John Warner, R-Va., approaches, two former Virginia governors are vying to take his seat: Republican Jim Gilmore and Democrat Mark Warner.
Dick Leggitt , Gilmore’s campaign manager, said he believes Gilmore is running for the Senate seat to change the state of affairs in Washington, D.C.
“He believes that Washington is a mess right now,” Leggitt said, “and that we need someone in Washington to work to keep taxes low, tuitions low and to protect the taxpayers.”
Leggitt said among Gilmore’s plans for change if he becomes senator are a broad energy plan, lower tuition for college students and lower gas prices.
“We have a comprehensive energy plan that will help bring down the cost of gasoline, which is way too high because Washington for 30 years has restricted our effort to have access to domestic supplies,” Leggitt said. “And other than that, his plan would be to protect taxpayers. In this bailout situation, taxpayers are [being] asked to bail out all these businesses that made risky loans, and that’s not something that the taxpayers should be doing.”
Warner is also seeking to change Washington politics, according to his press secretary Emily Kryder.
Warner is running for Senate, Kryder stated in an e-mail, “because now, more than ever, Washington needs leaders who can work across the aisle to get things done for the American people.”
Kryder also stated that Warner intends to work across party lines if elected to the Senate.
“Mark Warner plans to build a coalition of “Radical Centrists” in the Senate comprised of members of both parties who are committed to putting aside partisan gridlock in order to get things done for the American people,” Kryder stated in the e-mail. “[He] is interested in working on a comprehensive energy policy, establishing a national competitiveness strategy so all Americans can compete and win in the global economy, and he wants to put the federal government’s fiscal house back in order just as he did as governor of Virginia.”
Both candidates are also working with their parties’ respective national campaigns to help carry Virginia in the presidential election.
“We’re running with McCain and Palin and we’re very proud of that,” Leggitt said. “We’re very optimistic about them carrying Virginia, and we’re right there with them.”
Similarly, in her e-mail, Kryder stated that Warner is a strong supporter of presidential candidate Barack Obama and noted that Warner was “honored to serve as the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention.”
Daniel Keyserling, deputy director of communications at the University’s Center for Politics and former executive editor of The Cavalier Daily, said he believes the contest between the governors will not be a close one if polls remain constant.
“Mark Warner is a clear favorite and barring any unforeseen developments, it will stay that way through the election,” Keyserling said, noting that Warner entered the current race as a favorite and emerged from the convention “as the crown prince of the Democratic party.”
To disrupt the current trend, Keyserling said, something needs to happen that will either derail Warner or significantly energize Gilmore’s campaign.
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