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Warner, Gade Meet for Final Debate

U.S. Senator Mark Warner and his Republican opponent Daniel Gade squared off in their third and final debate Tuesday night.

When Mark Warner ran for governor in 2001, he received criticism that he wanted to be governor without ever having run for office before. Now that he’s seeking a third term to the Senate, his Republican opponent Daniel Gade is calling Warner a career politician. 

“When he says he’s going to work across the aisle, what we really see is him retreating into his partisan positions," Gade argued Tuesday night. "He votes with his party 95 percent of the time when it’s not an election year, and he gets bipartisan only in an election year.”

Warner responded to this argument by name checking Republicans he’s worked with during his time in the Senate, including John McCain and Orrin Hatch. He also points to support from his predecessor in office, Republican Senator John Warner. “Virginians know my record," Warner said. "They know my record as governor, when as a Democrat with a two-to-one Republican legislature we made record investments and remained the best-managed state, best state for business and best state to receive a public education, all records I’m proud of.”

Polls show Warner has a double digit lead over Gade, although six years ago he was barely able to squeak by in an unexpectedly close election against Republican Ed Gillespie.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

Michael Pope is an author and journalist who lives in Old Town Alexandria.
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