Mark Warner Weighs His Options

Will Va. Politician Run for Senate or Another Go as Governor?

RICHMOND -- When former Virginia governor Mark R. Warner abruptly aborted his exploratory campaign for president a year ago, he vowed he had "a lot more campaigns" in him and would one day reemerge onto the political stage.

Sometime this week, Warner (D) could begin the next phase of his political career by announcing whether he plans to run for the U.S. Senate next year or try in 2009 to get back his old job as governor, as Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) prepares to leave office.

For Warner, the decision comes down to whether he wants to try to return to Richmond as one of the most popular governors in Virginia's recent history or run again for a federal office in which he would have a nationwide platform to talk about fiscal responsibility, ending the war in Iraq and reshaping the nation's energy policy.

Warner, 52, still says being Virginia governor is "the best job in America" but sounded at times Friday as if he had made up his mind to declare for the Senate.

"I know what still needs to be done at the state level, but there is also an enormous need at the national level to get things fixed," Warner told reporters after a speech at the University of Virginia, where incumbent Sen. John W. Warner (R) announced Aug. 31 he was retiring. "Whoever the next president is, if you continue to have a Congress caught in gridlock, then the ability to have the kind of transformative change around restoring America's stature in the world, energy, a national competitiveness plan, is going to disappear."

Warner said Friday he would make a decision within a week.

Democrats say Warner, who left the governor's mansion with a record high approval rating, is virtually unbeatable in a statewide contest.

"Even if you brought back Ronald Reagan, he couldn't beat Warner," said veteran Democratic strategist Dave "Mudcat" Saunders, who was a key adviser to Warner during his 2001 bid for governor.

But Warner's election is not a certainty. Another Northern Virginian, U.S. Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R), or Warner's predecessor, former governor James S. Gilmore III, could seek the GOP nomination for Senate. Neither is expected to announce his plans until after the Nov. 6 state legislative elections.

The Senate race will have a ripple effect on who runs for governor, Congress and local offices.

If Warner enters the Senate race, Virginia would once again host one of the most competitive Senate races in the country -- in a year in which Democrats will be attempting to keep their majority in the Senate and win back the White House. Both parties will pour millions of dollars into the campaign.

If Warner were to win, he would join first-term Sen. James Webb, giving Virginia two Democratic senators for the first time since 1970.