Election Blog Week 3

The 2008 Virginia senate election will be an open contest this year since the uncumbent, John Warner, chose not to seek re-election. The major party candidates are Democrat Mark Warner and Republican Jim Gilmore. Both are former governors of Virginia. Warner ran for the Democratic ticket unopposed, while Jim Gilmore competed for the Republican ticket against 11th district Congressman Tom Davis. Mark Warner had challenged John Warner in 1996 for his seat in the Senate, but was narrowly defeated. Mark later won election in 2001 as teh State's governor and left office with a good reputation and high popularity. On October 13, the Republican statepart's central committee voted47-37 to hold a statewide convention rather than a primary. Claiming it would save the candidates money, Jim Gilmore argued strongly for a convention. Also, a convention was thought to favor Gilmore because most of the delegates came from the party's activist base, which is far to the right. With this decision, Gilmore seriously considered entering the race. When Davis officially dropped out on October 25 2007, Gilmore confirmed his candidacy on November 19 2007.