Warner win gives Dems crucial Senate seat

RICHMOND, Va., Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Democrat Mark Warner defeated Republican Jim Gilmore Tuesday to win the seat held by retiring Sen. John Warner, R-Va., giving Democrats a key Senate pick-up.

Warner, 53, a former Virginia governor who left office with strong approval numbers after succeeding Gilmore in that post in 2001, cruised to victory, taking the seat being vacated by 81-year-old Warner (no relation), who is retiring after 30 years in the Senate.

With more than 55 percent of precincts reporting, Warner led with 63 percent of the vote to Gilmore's 36 percent, Virginia State Board of Elections figures indicated.

The win indicates Virginia, long a Republican stronghold, is turning increasingly blue, The Washington Post reported.

John Warner, a popular moderate Republican, did not endorse either candidate, but said last month he might back Mark Warner, in part because of Gilmore's opposition to the $700 billion U.S. financial bailout bill.

Gilmore, 59, a lawyer who served as state attorney general before being elected governor in 1997, led the Republican National Committee from December 2000 through November 2001 and was an early candidate for president in 2007.

Warner's win gives Democrats control of both of the state's U.S. Senate seats, as well as its governorship.

The Senate currently consists of 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans and two independents who have caucused with the Democrats. One independent, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, alienated many former Democratic colleagues by supporting Sen. John McCain's Republican presidential campaign.