Election Post # 3

For my third Election Post I chose the VA Senate: Mark Warner vs. Jim Gilmore. Both runners are highly qualified in their own individual ways.

Mark Warner-Democrat

Born: December 15, 1954

Mark Warner served as Governor of Virginia from 2002 to 2006. During his time as Governor he tried to improve education in Virginia's public schools. With the huge money surplus that his administration acquired, he was able to invest in the largest amount of k-12 education in the State's history. Warner also cut budgets by modernizing Virginia's schools curriculum which promoted fairness within each ideal focusing on economic development. Warner was also Chaired in the National Governors Association. He was also named one of the "best five Governor's of the country," in the Time magazine.

Jim Gilmore- Republican

Born: October 6, 1949

Gilmore was first elected into the Senate in 1997, against George Allan. During his administering, Gilmore strongly believed in the idea of a tax reduction and pushed for the car tax reduction which significantly helped over time.

Results from the Reduction

1998- down by 12.5%

1999- down by 25%

2000- down by 47.5%

2001- down by 70%

2002- down by 100%

For that a time being the economy was stabilized.

Gilmore also believed that schools should have a uniform cirriculum- Math, Science, English, and social Studies. In 1999, Gilmore proposed and signed into a law that reduced public college tuition's by 20%.

At this point in time Warner is leading Gilmore in the polls- 60% to 34%

The top issues at stake are:

*New Energy Policies

*Health Care

*War

*Competitiveness

*Improving the Nation's Infrastructure