VIRGINIA
     Nov. 4, 2014 U.S. Senate                                      

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+Mark Warner (D) i
1,073,667
49.15%
Ed Gillespie (R)
1,055,940
48.33%
Robert Sarvis (L)
53,102
2.43%
all others
1,811
0.08%

2,184,520

Total registered: 5,281,011.  Total voting:  2,194,346.
Plurality: 17,727 votes (0.81 percentage points).

VA Department of Elections



Notes: 
Of the 36 Senate races in 2014, the Virginia contest provided the biggest surprise and the closest result.  Sen. Mark Warner (D) eked out a win over Ed Gillespie (R) by 17,727 votes out of more that 2.1 million cast, a margin of less than one-percent.  Also on the ballot was Robert Sarvis (L).

Warner and Gillespie debated three times: at the Greenbriar in White Sulphur Springs, WV, sponsored by the Virginia Bar Association, on July 26 (>); in McLean, sponsored by the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce and News 4, on Oct. 7 (>); and at WCVE-TV studios in Richmond, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Virginia and AARP Virginia, on Oct. 13 (>).
 

Gillespie brought to the race a wealth of political experience, including his service as RNC chairman from 2003-05 and as counselor to President Bush from 2007-09, and he ran a focused campaign.  He repeatedly took Warner to task for "voting with President Obama 97 percent of the time" and criticized "Obama-Warner policies."  Warner highlighted his bipartisan efforts and charged Gillespie had "spent his entire career as a DC lobbyist and a partisan political operative."

According to the Center for Responsive Politics (>), the Warner campaign spent $18.1 million, the Gillespie campaign $7.9 million and the Sarvis campaign about $85,000; outside spending was a modest $3.3 million.


Campaign Managers:
Mark Warner  Trey Nix 
Campaign manager on Aneesh Chopra's 2013 campaign for lieutenant governor of Virginia.  Campaign manager on Paul Hirschbiel's challenge to U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell in VA-2 in 2012.  Originally from Alabama.

Ed Gillespie  Chris Leavitt
(Jan. 2014) Campaign manager on Mark Obenshain for Attorney General, Nov. 2012-Dec. 2013.  Campaign manager on Bob Goodlatte for Congress, Jan.-Nov. 2012.  Campaign manager on Bryce Reeves for VA Senate, Mar.-Nov. 2011.  Political director on Mike Bouchard for Governor (MI), Jan.-Aug. 2010.  Field director in the Charlottesville area for the Republican Party of Virginia, April-Dec. 2009.  Bachelor's degree in political science and government from the University of Maine, 2008.

 
See also:
James Hohmann.  "How Gillespie nearly slayed Warner."  Politico, Nov. 5, 2014.




 
       


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