Warner Adds to Campaign Coffers As He Readies for Senate Race Against Gilmore or Marshall

Former governor Mark R. Warner (D), a candidate for the U.S. Senate, reported yesterday that he raised $2.7 million during the last quarter of 2007.

Warner's contributions, two-thirds of which came from Virginia residents, are on top of the $1.1 million he raised in September.

Warner will face either former governor James S. Gilmore III or Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William), both of whom are vying for the GOP nomination, in the Nov. 4 general election.

Marshall didn't announce his candidacy until this month, so he didn't have to file a report yesterday with the Federal Elections Commission. Gilmore's report wasn't available last night.

-- Tim Craig

Senate Committee Passes Five Bills Banning Smoking

The Virginia Senate moved yesterday to ban smoking in some public places.

The Health and Education Committee voted in favor of five bills that would institute different bans, including one that would place an outright prohibition on smoking in indoor public places, and another that would leave the decision up to local governments. The hope, lawmakers said, is that a bill will pass in the House of Delegates, which rejected a smoking ban last year.

Several Republican senators said they believe a smoking ban would be an infringement on civil liberties, but Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax), a committee member, said he doesn't buy the argument.

"Yeah, people have choices," he said. "But when this state is picking up the health-care cost of people who . . . want these choices, we have a right to intervene."