Former Gov. Jim Gilmore (R) (AP Photo) Click here for Gilmore bio	Former Gov. Mark Warner (D) (AP Photo) Click here for Warner bio

Jim Gilmore and Mark Warner, both former Virginia governors, are running to replace Republican U.S. Sen. John Warner, who is retiring this year. Mark Warner has a significant lead in the polls heading into tonight's election.

Please check back later tonight for official elections results.

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Warner shows wide lead in polls

By CLAUDIA VINCENTI

Democrat Mark Warner was expected to win in today’s race to become Virginia’s newest Senator.

With Warner leading Republican opponent Jim Gilmore by as much as 30 percentage points in recent polls, the question in the Senate race is whether Warner will have enough influence to help swing the state into Barack Obama’s favor on Election Day.

According to recent polls, Gilmore has the support of 78 percent of Virginia Republicans, with Warner backed by nearly one of five GOP voters. Ninety-seven percent of Democrats support their party’s candidate. Unaffiliated voters favor Warner nearly three-to-one.

The two former Virginia governors are running for the seat being vacated by the retirement of longtime Republican Senator and Washington and Lee University alumnus John Warner. Warnere is not related to the Democratic candidate.

Warner ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in 1996 but was elected governor in 2001. He served until 2006 and surprised many in Virginia and nationally when he announced in October of that year that he was not seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.

His statewide popularity as governor has carried over into his bid for the Senate seat. Warner has been favored to win the Senate race from the start, holding a double-digit lead over Gilmore since polling began last fall.

Gilmore served as governor from 1998 to 2002 and briefly campaigned last year for the Republican presidential nomination. Prior to his term as governor, Gilmore was attorney general of Virginia from 1994-1997 and was the commonwealth’s attorney of Henrico County from 1988-1993.

Rep. Tom Davis from Northern Virginia, more moderate and with more money than Gilmore, was a Republican challenger for the nomination but dropped out of the race when the state party decided to pick its nominee with a convention rather than a primary. Gilmore defeated Del. Bob Marshall of Prince William County at the convention.

Warner prided himself on having introduced a bipartisan, results-oriented approach to Richmond during his term as governor, and promised to bring that kind of leadership to Washington. If elected to the Senate, he told voters, he hopes to build a coalition of moderate senators who are willing to fight for results instead of partisan advantage. He also promised to look out for the taxpayers to make sure their interests are protected in a financial rescue plan.

During his term as governor, Gilmore cut taxes for working families by $1.5 billion, as he promised when elected. He vowed to keep his word as senator as well and promised to get the country back on track and get the economy moving forward again.

For many observers, Gilmore’s expected defeat shows the decline of the traditional conservative right’s control of the state.