RICHMOND, Va. — Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat, won a fourth term in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, defeating Bert Mizusawa, a Republican and a retired Army major general. The Associated Press called the race for Warner at 7:00 p.m. ET, as polls closed in Virginia.
In the AP count as of about 10:20 p.m. ET, Warner had 1,798,445 votes (59 percent) to Mizusawa’s 1,228,386 (41 percent), with 93 percent of precincts reporting. The count is unofficial and ballots are still being counted. A race call is a projection; the result becomes official only when Virginia certifies it in the coming weeks.
The win keeps the seat in Democratic hands. Warner has said this fourth term will be his last.
Who are the candidates?
Mark Warner, Democrat. Warner, 71, has been a U.S. senator since 2009 and was Virginia’s governor from 2002 to 2006. Before politics he made his money in the cell phone business and co-founded a firm that invests in technology companies. He is the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, the panel that watches over the country’s spy agencies, and he often works with Republicans on bills.
Bert Mizusawa, Republican. Mizusawa, 69, is a retired U.S. Army major general who served more than three decades in uniform, with four combat tours. He graduated from West Point and earned a law degree at Harvard. He has worked on the staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee and as a deputy under secretary of the Army, and he led a joint task force in Afghanistan. His campaign stressed national security, lower federal spending and lower costs for families.
For the Senate as a whole, this result changes nothing by itself. Republicans began the night with a 53-to-47 majority, and Democrats need a net gain of four seats to take control. So far their only net gain is North Carolina, where Roy Cooper took an open Republican seat. Senate control has not been called, and it turns on races that are still being counted, including Michigan, Texas and Maine.
Follow live results and race calls through the night on the Zark News election results page.
