Mark Warner Formally Launches U.S. Senate Bid

May 5th, 2008 | Kevin Hall

MARK WARNER FORMALLY LAUNCHES U.S. SENATE BID
~ Former Governor visits 11 localities in 3 days on statewide announcement tour ~

Pledging to “take Virginia-style independence and real results to Washington,” former Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner today formally launched his candidacy for the U.S. Senate in a statewide series of events scheduled in 11 localities over three days.

Warner, 53, served as Virginia’s 69th Governor between 2002-2006. When he took office, Virginia was in the midst of a fiscal crisis and faced a $3.8 billion revenue shortfall that ultimately grew into a $6 billion deficit. By the end of his term, Warner had cut state agency budgets, improved delivery of state services, worked with a Republican-led legislature to reform Virginia’s outdated tax system, and turned that deficit into a surplus.

“It is time for a new approach in Washington: results, not rhetoric – and progress, not delay,” former Governor Warner said. “The old politics of ‘left and right’ or ‘red-versus-blue’ will not work at a time when our challenge really is ‘future-versus-past.’ If we work together to get our nation fixed, I am confident our best days lie ahead.”

Kick-off events were scheduled in Abingdon, Roanoke, Norfolk, Richmond, Alexandria, Martinsville, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Hampton, and on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

Events featured a strong line-up of local elected officials, state legislators, congressmen, U.S. Senator Jim Webb and Governor Timothy M. Kaine. Other speakers include:

• Roanoke School Board Chairman David Carson, a self-described “lifelong Republican” who says Mark Warner “is the only Democrat I’ve ever voted for;”

• Heywood Fralin, a Roanoke Valley business and community leader and long-time supporter of Republican candidates and committees.

• Eric Penn of Martinsville, an associate minister, employee of a child support collection firm that Governor Warner helped attract to Martinsville, and a part-time student at the New College Institute, whose creation Governor Warner supported as Southside Virginia was reeling from dramatic changes and job losses in its traditional textile and furniture industries;

• Julia Melendez of Norfolk, a single mom who received health care coverage for her three daughters through Virginia’s FAMIS program – the state/federal partnership that Warner championed and promoted as Governor. The Warner Administration’s successful efforts ultimately boosted FAMIS enrollment from 7% to 98% of Virginia’s eligible children, leading the Kaiser Family Foundation to cite Virginia as one of the states with the nation’s most dramatic improvements in children’s health insurance;

• Retired U.S. Navy Admiral Harry Train, the former Commander-in-Chief of the United States Atlantic Fleet and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander of the Atlantic, and retired Vice Admiral Al Krekich, the former Commander of Naval Surface Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet in San Diego. Governor Warner consistently supported our active-duty, Reserve and National Guard men and women and their families, streamlined and improved delivery of services to Virginia’s 700,000 veterans, and worked with local and regional officials to protect Virginia’s strong partnership with our nation’s military during the 2005 round of BRAC military base-closings;

• Jessica Holbrook, a lifelong Southwest Virginia resident who worked in regional economic development efforts before accepting a job at CGI-AMS, one of the leading information technology companies Governor Warner helped locate in the Russell County town of Lebanon in an effort to transform the region’s economy through high-skill, high-wage IT job opportunities;

• Governor Warner’s announcement tour also featured supportive appearances by several former Republican members of the Virginia House of Delegates, including Jim Dillard of Fairfax, Preston Bryant of Lynchburg and Robert Bloxom of Accomac.

Warner was joined on part of the announcement tour by his wife, Lisa Collis, and their three daughters: Madison (18), Gillian (17) and Eliza (13).

In 2005, TIME Magazine named Mark Warner one of “America’s Five Best Governors,” Governing Magazine said Virginia was the “best managed state in the nation,” Forbes.com designated Virginia as the “best state for business,” and in 2006, Education Week determined that a child born in Virginia had the nation’s best prospects for lifetime success because of the strength of the Commonwealth’s educational system.