Virginia Senate Race

Mark Warner (D) v. Jim Gilmore (R)

Politicos have had their eyes on the Virginia US Senate Race for a few years now. Mark Warner has been considered a rising star in politics for years, ever since he first ran for Governor of Virginia. After defeating a Republican to win that seat, he won great praise and was known as a Democrat who could work well with Republicans.

Virginia has also become a state to watch because of changing demographics – the state used to be considered a Republican state, but Democrats have been doing better there of late with the growing population of Northern Virginia right outside of Washington, DC and the beginnings of a shift to the left that the whole country is experiencing. Mark Warner is running against another former governor of Virginia, Republican Jim Gilmore. They are vying for Senator John Warner's seat as he has decided to retire from the Senate this year. John Warner, a solid Republican, has been critical of the Bush administration's foreign policy in recent years. Mark Warner, the Democratic candidate, is leading Gilmore in the polls by a very comfortable margin and the average political rating has this seat a likely turnover for Democrats.