Former Virginia Governor Gilmore Announces He will run for U.S. Senate

As expected, former Governor Jim Gilmore [pictured on the right at left] has announced that he will be running for the U. S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator John Warner. His opponent will be former Virginia Governor Mark Warner who, unlike Gilmore, left the Governor's mansion with a high approval rating. The Christianists and wingnuts in the Republican Party of Virginia will love Gilmore - who will no doubt soon visit Pat Robertson to kiss his ring - but I do not see him doing well at all in Northern Virginia or in most urban areas. The combination of those voting blocks has increasingly been able to blunt the far right voting from the rural areas of the state. I sincerely hope the trend continues. While Jim Gilmore appointed me to serve on a state agency while he was Governor, I can truthfully say that we do NOT need him in the U. S. Senate and that my wholehearted support will go to Mark Warner. Here are some highlights from the Virginian Pilot (http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=137208&ran=57827):

Former Gov. James S. Gilmore III made his long apparent candidacy for the U.S. Senate official this morning, announcing his bid in a video posted on the internet and e-mailed to supporters. “Our leaders have let us down, and we badly need new hands at the wheel,” he asserted. Gilmore’s announcement sets up what will almost certainly be a bruising battle for the Senate seat being vacated by five-term Republican John Warner, who announced in August that he will retire when his term expires in January 2009.

Gilmore, a Republican, and former Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, are expected to be unopposed for their respective party nominations. Both are experienced campaigners who have been successful in past statewide runs; with control of the Senate potentially hanging in the balance, both men figure to be well-financed.

Gilmore was governor from 1998-2002. His campaign and then his term in office was marked by his relentless advocacy for repeal of the state’s personal property tax, or ”car tax,” an annual levy based on the value of taxypayer automobiles and boats. Gilmore retains a strong base of support among the party’s conservatives however and the prospect of his candidacy helped convince Rep. Tom Davis, R-11th District, a relative moderate, to abandon plans to seek the GOP nomination.

It is interesting that out of the comments posted on the article by Pilot subscribers, only one was positive towards Gilmore. He and the "social conservatives" are incapable of moving the country forward.