Democratic Sen. Mark Warner has won reelection to a fourth term representing Virginia in the U.S. Senate, with the race called shortly after polls closed.
Warner defeated Republican challenger Bert Mizusawa, a retired U.S. Army major general whose campaign centered largely on lowering the tax burden on Virginians.
“Thank you, Virginia! I’m honored and grateful to continue serving as your United States Senator,” Warner wrote on social media following his victory.
Warner first won his Senate seat in 2009 and has held it since, winning his last reelection with more than half the vote.
War in Iran a Central Issue
Throughout the campaign, Warner has been a vocal critic of the war in Iran, describing it as a conflict of choice initiated by President Donald Trump. Exit polling found that two-thirds of voters said the war was important to their vote.
Speaking on Morning Joe in September, Warner laid out his criticism of the administration’s handling of the conflict.
“This is what happens when you start a war of choice without a plan,” Warner said. “You know, they wanted to change the regime. Well, they killed the last guys, but the current guys are worse than before. We don’t have any activity to get the enriched uranium. It would have required 15,000 troops on the ground getting those canisters out while the Iranians were bombing us. They still have missiles and drones. We turn down Ukrainian technology, which could have taken down Iranian drones at $5,000 a pop. We’re spending $2.5 million per missile to take down some of those, some of those drones.”
Warner also pointed to the war’s economic toll, citing rising fuel prices and inflation.
“And clearly we’ve got $4.50 gas, we’ve got $6.40 diesel. And I don’t see any scenario, even if the president declares victory tomorrow, where at the end of the day, Iran is not going to extract some kind of toll coming from oil and natural gas that will come out of that area. This war is a disaster on every front. The American people know it. It’s driving up inflation, you know, mortgage rates at 7%.”
He added that he had not seen a clear strategy for ending U.S. involvement. “And candidly, I have not heard any plan at all on how to extract ourselves. That’s a disaster,” Warner said.
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