Race for Senate Seat Threatens to Be a Walk

Former Virginia governors Mark R. Warner (D), left, and James S. "Jim" Gilmore III (R) have sparred over their records and their positions on taxes, but the presidential race has overshadowed their Senate contest. (By Melina Mara -- The Washington Post)
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Warner, who made a fortune in the cellphone business in the 1980s, said he would have voted for the bailout because he predicted "economic turmoil" if the credit markets did not get an infusion of cash.

Gilmore said he opposed the plan because it rewards people and businesses that took risks.

Gilmore also warns that the bailout opens the door to future efforts by Congress to use tax dollars to underwrite other failing corporations.

On social issues, Gilmore opposes a woman's right to an abortion after the eighth week of pregnancy. He vows to support the appointment of conservative judges, like Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, to the Supreme Court. Warner supports abortion rights and said he would support the appointment of Supreme Court justices who support the right to privacy that is the basis for the court's ruling giving women the right to choose abortion.

But for most of the campaign, Warner's and Gilmore's records as governor have dominated the discussion.

Warner has accused Gilmore of "driving the state into a fiscal ditch" when he was governor. Warner said Gilmore ran up a budget shortfall when he attempted to eliminate the personal property tax, or "car tax."

When Warner took office in 2002, he said, he had to slash spending to try to make up for a multibillion-dollar shortfall that he said he had inherited from Gilmore.

After cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from the budget, Warner said, he was left with no choice but to seek a tax increase.

With the help of moderate Republicans, Warner pushed through a $1.4 billion tax increase in 2004 to balance the budget and preserve money for education and social services.

Gilmore, who denies he left a budget shortfall, contends that Warner's tax increase was not needed. Gilmore notes that Virginia had a budget surplus a few months after the tax increase was approved.