October surprise for Mark Warner? Game changer for Virginia?

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Fallout from the former Democratic State Senator Phil Puckett case in the Virginia General Assembly seems to have now hit U.S. Senator Mark Warner (see Warner discussed job for Puckett’s daughter by Laura Vozzella in the Washington Post).

October surprise? Game changer for Virginia’s U.S. Senate seat that was thought to be safely in Democratic control?

In a race that has seen the polls tighten in Republican challenger Ed Gillespie’s favor — once polling down almost 30 points and now has closed the gap to 10 — these final three weeks are very important. This one seems even more so because, while Gillespie already had momentum moving in his favor before the latest news broke, revelations on Friday that Warner may have been a part of the Democratic push-back at Puckett have been both surprising and revealing.

U.S. Senate debate tonight … Warner-Puckett questions will be elephant in room

By Lynn R. Mitchell

The past two days have not been good for U.S. Senator Mark Warner since it was reported in the Washington Post his alleged connection concerning former Democratic State Senator Phil Puckett (see Warner discussed job for Puckett’s daughter by Laura Vozzella):

The son of a former Virginia state senator has told federal investigators that U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner discussed the possibility of several jobs, including a federal judgeship, for the senator’s daughter in an effort to dissuade him from quitting the evenly divided state Senate.

Warner was part of a string of high-powered Virginia Democrats who in early June pressed then-state senator Phillip P. Puckett not to go through with plans to give up his seat in the middle of a bitterly partisan battle over health care.

Groups call on Mark Warner to participate in debate

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Virginia’s U.S. Senator Mark Warner has agreed to only one debate so far this election season, and it was held Saturday during the Virginia Bar Association’s summer gathering at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. During that debate, Republican challenger Ed Gillespie edged out the incumbent with his knowledge and even-handed responses to questions, surprising some who thought the more politically-seasoned Warner would win.