Sen. Warner avoids backing would-be GOP successor

Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) is avoiding an endorsement in the closely watched Senate contest to succeed him, so far declining to support fellow Republican Jim Gilmore several days after the former Virginia governor clinched the GOP nomination.

Warner, 81, who announced last September he will retire when his fifth term ends in January, twice shunned inquiries about his stance in the race, directing reporters to a statement that his press office said is not forthcoming.

{mosads}“I’m not going to keep answering this question about Gilmore,” Warner said. “I’ll get my press office to send you a statement.”

Warner’s communications staff said no statement has been released and that there is no specific timetable for one.

A sitting senator resisting to back the party’s choice to succeed him would be extraordinary in itself, but Warner’s seat also is a top target for Democrats next year looking to increase its majority in the Senate.

The once-reliably Republican commonwealth has gradually been tilting toward the Democratic column in recent years. Junior senator Jim Webb (D) surprised many by narrowly defeating incumbent Republican George Allen in 2006, for example.

Warner has history with both of his potential successors. Democrat Mark Warner, Virginia’s governor from 2002 to 2006, narrowly lost to the senator in a 1996 bid for his seat. Mark Warner briefly flirted with a presidential campaign in 2006 but instead announced his Senate candidacy within days of John Warner’s retirement announcement. He has clinched the Democratic nomination.

Mark Warner is also a former staff member to Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.). Both Warners are considered legislative centrists.

Gilmore, who preceded Mark Warner in the Virginia governor’s office from 1998 to 2002, narrowly won the GOP nomination for the seat over the weekend and is trailing in state polls. He succeeded Allen as Virginia governor and from 2001 to 2002 was chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Like John Warner, Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) has been less than enthusiastic toward Gilmore’s candidacy. Davis once eyed the seat himself but opted not to run after the party chose to select its nominee through convention – a process that favored the more conservative Gilmore.

When asked Wednesday at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast whether he would endorse Gilmore, Davis deflected the question.

“I’m a Republican; I’m going to vote for Gilmore,” he said.

When pressed whether he would endorse the nominee, he said: “What do you mean? Am I going to go up and put my arm around him and say, ‘Jim, you’ve always been my best friend’? ”

After briefly walking away, he offered: “Jim needs to do outreach. Jim doesn’t talk to anybody.
“I’ll support the Republican.”

Gilmore’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment at press time.

Manu Raju contributed to this article.