Answers:
1. Former Virginia Gov. James Gilmore recently became the first Republican presidential candidate to drop out of the ’08 race. Gilmore said he is considering a race for the Senate if incumbent Republican Sen. John Warner retires next year. Who was the last former governor of Virginia to go on to the Senate?
2. John Warner has been a senator from Virginia since 1978. Only one other Republican since Reconstruction served as a Virginia senate before Warner. Can you name him?
3. Former Gov. Mark Warner (no relation to John) is considered a strong possible Democratic candidate for that Senate seat. When was the last time Virginia had two Democratic senators?
4. John Warner actually lost the Republican nomination for the Senate in 1978, but then became the Republican candidate after nominee Richard Obenshain was killed in a plane crash. Who is the only other current U.S. senator to have gone to the Senate the same year he previously lost nomination for the office?
5. Virginia has not elected a Republican governor in 10 years. Who was the last Republican governor of Virginia?
Answers:
1. Republican George Allen, governor from 1993-97 and senator from 2000-06.
2. William L. Scott, senator from 1972-78.
3. 1970, when the senators were Democrats Harry Byrd, Jr. and William L. Spong (Byrd switched to independent that year, and Spong was defeated by Scott in ’72).
4. Ted Stevens (R.-Alaska), who lost the primary for U.S. senator in 1968 but was appointed to the Senate in December of that year following the death of Democratic Sen. Bob Bartlett.
5. Gilmore, governor from 1997-2001.
