Va.'s Davis: No US Senate bid in '08

U.S. Rep. Thomas M. Davis said Thursday he would not run for the Senate seat being vacated next year by fellow Republican John W. Warner, likely setting up a race between two former governors.

"We're not going to do the Senate this time," Davis told reporters after an invitation-only breakfast at a Washington, D.C., hotel.

The decision sets up a likely race involving two former governors — Democrat Mark R. Warner and Republican Jim Gilmore.

Democrats believe the race between the popular and wealthy Mark Warner and Gilmore will allow them to expand their one-seat U.S. Senate majority.

Mark Warner announced his intent to run for the seat in September and raised more than $1.1 million in just 17 days. There was no immediate reply to telephone messages left at his office.

Gilmore said he would make his plans known later this fall. "This year is for candidates for the Virginia House of Delegates and the state Senate," Gilmore said in a telephone interview, refusing to comment on the effect of Davis forgoing the race.

Gilmore, however, is assembling a campaign team whose members leave no doubt about Gilmore's intentions.

"Let me remind you that there's only one active politician in Virginia who has carried Virginia twice and carried (largely Democratic) northern Virginia twice, and it ain't Mark Warner," longtime Gilmore adviser Dick Leggitt said after Davis' announcement.

Davis, like John Warner a moderate often at odds with the right wing of his party, had expressed a strong interest in succeeding the senator, who announced in August he will not seek a sixth term.

But when the state party decided earlier this month to nominate its candidate in a state convention next June instead of a primary, it made Gilmore — an anti-tax crusader with a following among GOP conservatives — a strong favorite. Conservative activists dominate Republican conventions.

Davis said he was disappointed but also relieved by the decision not to hold a primary. He said he believed he could be more competitive against Warner in the Washington suburbs, home turf to them both.

"Mark Warner is a tough opponent under the best of circumstances — not unbeatable, but tough. He left office with a lot of good will," Davis said.

Unresolved by Davis' announcement is whether he will seek re-election to his House seat next fall.

"I'm still raising money and getting around the community," Davis said. "A lot of things can happen in a year. I have to decide what's best for me and my family."