"The mainstream media sucks," Bert Mizusawa said, drawing applause from the audience at a Senate candidate forum organized by the conservative Family Foundation.
Mizusawa is one of three Republicans who participated in Friday's forum in Staunton.
"If there's one thing that we should learn from this redistricting amendment, it's that they have ulterior motives. And I believe that's true with all three of these amendments," he told the gathering.
Republican candidates running against Mark Warner will share the ballot with three constitutional amendments on abortion rights, voting rights and marriage rights.
Kim Farington says she's opposed to all three, and she wants to protect the Second Amendment.
"As the daughter of parents who owned one of the largest gun stores in Texas," Farington noted, "I fully support the Second Amendment and will fight for our Second Amendment rights."
David Williams says it's important for Republicans to be united.
"How are we going to start winning elections? How are we going to get those independents?" he asked. "But making sure that they stay under those conservative values, and that we don't waffle and become a, uh, a RINO."
Mark Warner will enter the fall campaign with more than $13 million in his war chest. None of the Republican candidates on the August ballot has more than a million so far.
Early voting has already begun with Primary Day coming August 4th. No one filed paperwork to challenge Warner for the Democratic nomination, so there is no primary on that side of the race.
