Mark Warner the Dealmaker: From Business Success to the Business of Governing

By Will Payne, Governor Terry McAuliffe and Quentin Kidd

When Mark Warner left office in 2006 with an 80 percent approval rating, TIME magazine called him one of "America's Five Best Governors." Virginia was ranked the best-managed state in the nation, the best state for business and the best state for educational opportunity. When Warner began his term in 2002, the commonwealth was in the midst of its worst fiscal crisis in forty years, and partisan bickering had brought political discourse in Richmond to a standstill. An entrepreneur from a young age, Warner became the world's first cellular industry broker and later co-founded Nextel. The conservative Democrat came in with a plan to turn Virginia around and restore the public's trust in state government, winning the support of battle-hardened Republican legislators. This is the story of how Mark Warner entered the governor's office a hands-on dealmaker and emerged a statesman.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Aug 31, 2015
• ISBN: 9781625851123

Will Payne

Born and raised in Richmond, Will Payne is the principal of Bull Moose Strategies, LLC. He led three "Virginians For" campaigns for statewide candidates for governor and the U.S. Senate and specializes in coalitions of Republicans, business leaders, elected officials, law enforcement, sportsmen and veterans. Will is a 2001 graduate of the College of William & Mary, and in 2005 was named a Fellow of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia.

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Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright © 2015 by Will Payne

All rights reserved

Front cover: Photograph by John Rohrbach.

First published 2015

e-book edition 2015

ISBN 978.1.62585.112.3

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015943864

print edition ISBN 978.1.62619.584.4

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

Claiming the Dream: The Victorious Campaign of Douglas Wilder of Virginia, copyright © 1990 by Margaret Edds. Reprinted by permission of Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. All rights reserved.

Excerpt from Mission: Take Back the Hills by Matt Bai, copyright © 2001 by Matt Bai, originally appeared in Newsweek magazine, used by permission of the Wylie Agency LLC.

Warner (Rodney Dillard/Mitch Jayne), lyrics by Rodney Dillard/Mitch Jayne, as interpolated from the song Dooley (Dillard/Jayne), published by express permission of Lansdowne Music/Winston Music Publishers with special thanks to Lynne Robin Green, ASCAP, worldwide rights reserved.

Wireless Nation: The Frenzied Launch of the Cellular Revolution in America, copyright © October 17, 2002, by James B. Murray. Reprinted by permission of Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

For Ken Stolle: lawman, statesman, patriarch, hunter.

Member, Senate of Virginia, 1992–2009 Senate Majority Whip and Republican Leader Pro Tempore Sheriff, City of Virginia Beach, 2010–

A Virginia leader known for making the right call regardless of the political consequences. His record is defined by a rare, instinctual awareness of when to be political and when to govern. Equally feared, respected and loved by both friends and foes, he has lived a life of public service emblematic of the Virginia Way.

A portion of the sale of each book will be donated to funding research into the cause, treatment and cure of Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and other neurological disorders.

CONTENTS

Foreword, by Governor Terry McAuliffe

Acknowledgements

1. Mark and John

2. Virginians Value Independence

3. Political Foes Turned Policy Allies

4. Small-Town Dreamer

5. Wheeling and Dealing

6. Risk and Reward

7. Trailblazing Venture Capitalists

8. Social Entrepreneur

9. Rewriting the Political Playbook

10. Gridlock Sets the Stage

11. A Virginia Strategy

12. Stand on Principle

13. The Turnaround Kid

14. Restoring Credibility

15. Honoring a Commitment

16. The Dream Team

17. Hands-On Policymaking

18. Breaking Ground

19. A Statesman Emerges

Afterword, by Quentin Kidd

Notes

Bibliography

About the Author

Foreword

VIRGINIA EXCEPTIONALISM

Virginia governors have just one shot to get it right. We’re the only state in the nation whose chief executive is constitutionally barred from running for reelection. As a result, the revolving door in the governor’s office leaves little time for on-the-job training. Successful governors come in with bold agendas. They seize opportunities to build consensus. They put the interests of eight million people before their own—a responsibility they don’t take lightly. Just as governors before me did, I entered the office up to the task. My calling: building a new Virginia economy and establishing the economic infrastructure it would take to outcompete forty-nine other states and two hundred nations around the globe.

The challenges facing Virginia are daunting. Sequestration and even more federal budget cuts are on the horizon. We confront these headwinds against the backdrop of deeper problems shared by so many other states: an aging infrastructure, rising healthcare costs, a state workforce close to retirement and, most significantly, growing economic competition from abroad. I believe that a daunting challenge is always a great opportunity. Traveling around the state for years, I’ve seen this myself. I’ve met hardworking Virginians who are struggling to provide for their families, unable to access the quality education and training they need to get good-paying jobs or even worried about just providing healthy meals for their children.

When I think about those Virginians, I realize that the decisions we make every day determine whether parents who worked hard their entire lives will have the savings to retire with some security; whether the brave men and women who return home from serving abroad can find work or start their own businesses; whether children who grow up in rural Virginia can live, work and thrive in the communities where they were born; and whether another kid from a middle-class family like me can find enough customers for his driveway maintenance business to help pay for college.

Dealing with economic uncertainty is an ongoing struggle that my predecessors also faced. Mark Warner saw it firsthand early on in his administration. On a rainy summer afternoon in 2003, he made a solemn trip to Henry County to meet with hundreds of people who had just lost their jobs. Pillowtex Corp. had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection a day earlier, and suddenly, about one thousand of Southside Virginia’s textile workers found themselves unemployed. As the skies opened up, Warner stood outside the crammed union hall in Fieldale answering questions before finally coming in. The drenched governor had a plan to help, but more importantly, he showed up. Sincerity in politics is often underrated. Warner’s Economic Crisis Strike Force soon provided a one-stop shop for displaced workers and their families to access a wide range of local, state and federal assistance they so needed. The Pillowtex tragedy wasn’t the first time Southside had been rocked by downsizing, outsourcing or shutdowns. It was a problem that wasn’t created overnight, and it wouldn’t be solved overnight. Before Pillowtex, there was DuPont, Tultex, Pluma and VF Imagewear—thousands of jobs suddenly gone.

That is why we must grow, strengthen and diversify our economy. Virginia is home to the best workers on the planet. We owe them a workforce development system that prepares them for economic success from infancy through adulthood. Right now, employers across Virginia have thousands of high-tech jobs that they cannot find trained workers to fill. If we are going to keep those companies here and bring new ones in, we must build a world-class workforce system that better aligns our training programs with the needs of employers.

Education is the foundation of a well-trained workforce. Together, our leaders built and sustained one of the best higher education systems anywhere in America. Our twenty-three community colleges play a major part in this effort. They are our workforce development engines and are key to attracting and keeping the industries of the future. Our K-12 education system is nationally ranked and includes some of the best schools and teachers in the nation.

Virginia is becoming a leader in the cybersecurity and bioscience industries. As we focus on a twenty-first-century economy and bringing new businesses here, we continue to support existing industry. That focus means exporting Virginia goods across the globe. The port of Virginia is one of our greatest economic assets. It is our gateway to the world of international commerce and is poised to usher in a new era as Post Panamax vessels begin to utilize the new and deeper Panama Canal.

I announced early our goal to make Virginia the East Coast capital for agriculture and forestry exports. That wasn’t empty rhetoric. We got right to work, hosting eighteen ambassadors to discuss a range of trade issues. We traveled the globe selling Virginia agricultural products—everything from apples, soybeans and peanuts to wine. I even ate my fair share of fried cicadas and chicken paws, but I will eat anything if it means more jobs and investment here at home. Our efforts have paid off. For the first time in the history of Virginia, agriculture and forestry exports exceeded $3 billion. That’s just part of our overall economic development success story. In 2014 alone, we closed 267 deals, resulting in $5.58 billion in capital investment, more than twice what any administration has done in its first year.

Our success proves that politics does not have to paralyze progress. As I work with leaders in a Republican-dominated legislature—just as Mark Warner did—I am reminded that we agree more often than we disagree. For us, the economy transcends any residual electoral hard feelings. Virginia and America have seen contentious races before, and every time, we end up coming together to pursue the common good. My election in 2013 was never a choice between Democrats and Republicans; it was a choice about whether Virginia would continue the mainstream, bipartisan tradition that has served us so well over the past decade. I was proud to have the support of voters across the political spectrum—Democrats, Independents and Republicans alike. It was the same coalition that Mark Warner made a centerpiece of in his campaign for governor in 2001 and in his run for the U.S. Senate in 2008 and again in 2014. At a time when the public’s faith in its leaders is shaken, just think about what Virginia has accomplished by working together.

Under the Warner administration, we preserved our AAA bond rating and made the single largest investment in K-12 education in Virginia history. Since then, we have been rated the best-managed state in the nation and the best state for business. Relative to the rest of the country, we’ve emerged from the Great Recession with an economy more resilient than many of our sister states. Our unemployment is one of the lowest on the East Coast, and we passed the first transportation funding compromise in twenty-seven years with bipartisan support—an accomplishment that simply cannot be overstated.

Political progress in divided government is a tradition that we must continue. We are the national model for fiscal discipline because our leaders decided long ago to put the common good ahead of short-term politics. That has been and continues to be the Virginia Way. But it is also a tradition that must be sustained through constant work by leaders who choose progress over ideology. Common ground doesn’t move toward us; we move toward it.

Here in the Old Dominion, we’re an independent lot. It’s in our DNA. We’re the birthplace of a nation, mother to eight U.S. presidents and home base to the greatest military force in the world. Our forefathers conceived the foundations of American democracy, and for over two hundred years since, each generation of Virginians has continued to defy conventional wisdom and lead the way for the rest of the country. It’s not just our legacy; it’s our responsibility.

GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE

Commonwealth of Virginia

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

For those who said I couldn’t finish this book in one year’s time…well, you were right. When I began this project in early 2010 on a whim, I didn’t have an end game. I didn’t know what it took to write a book, and I didn’t have a publisher. I wasn’t sure of what I was getting into and frankly didn’t care. With that in mind, I just jumped right in.

And so began five years of work, beginning with researching and marking up 5,499 documents. At the same time, I crisscrossed Virginia to conduct 206 original interviews by phone and in homes, offices, loud bars, cars and even the cabin of a 110-foot yacht. Then came the nightmare of transcribing seventy-six hours of audiotape, followed by writing and shredding outlines and manuscript drafts too numerous to count.

Pulling off this book was no easy feat, and I wonder sometimes how it all came together. While it was no secret I was writing the story, I rarely discussed it in front of others and shared few details until it was set in stone.

I must first recognize political loves who introduced me to Warner World—Carrie Caumont, Kate McCarroll and Kelly Thomasson Mercer— the only ladies who appreciated my mixed CDs, rightfully so.

I give Senator Mark Warner a lot of credit. He didn’t ask for this book to be written, nor did I ask for his permission to write it. He didn’t have to agree to five sit-down interviews. He didn’t have to cooperate at all. Instead, he was gracious and patient. He was also quite modest, which made the interviews with his allies and rivals even more necessary.

A lot of stars had to align for this book to be released. I don’t take that for granted. I relied on the generosity of family, friends, political acquaintances and total strangers. To all of those I interviewed, thank you for your candor and for generously sharing your memories. Your participation was critical.

To all the close friends I’ve made through politics and otherwise, thanks for your encouragement along the way. Of everything that’s resulted from my political escapades on both sides of the aisle, I cherish the friendships the most. Special recognition goes to my fellow original members of the North Royal Street gang—Nick Howie, Clark Mercer, Kelly Thomasson Mercer, Cass Rasnick, Matt Strict-9 Strickler and Courtney Weeran—all of whom got first dibs on reading the manuscript.

I am grateful to all of my clients and cohorts for their patience and understanding of my need to finish what I started. Thank you to Brynne Craig, John Jones, Keri Markiewicz, Clayton Roberts, Doug Smith, Ken Stolle and Garth Wheeler for indulging me the most.

Naturally, my family was supportive. I single out my twin brother, Judson, but particularly my mother, Nancy, an author in her own right, who endured the worst of the early manuscript versions and provided valuable input from the book’s inception to its publication.

To the authors of the foreword and afterword—Governor Terry McAuliffe and Quentin Kidd—thank you for lending your reputations to this project.

The photographs contained within the book and on the cover are all compliments of Adam Ewing, John Rohrbach, Kelly Thomasson Mercer, Debbie Oswalt and Michaele White. Ewing is probably the only professional photographer in the world whose studio houses a legit pickup hockey space, including sticks, pucks and a net.

I am excited to have had CO+LAB design the markwarnerbook.com website. It’s been a pleasure working with the company’s founder, Eddie O’Leary, as well as the rest of the team, including Caitlyn Mayers, Sarah Sheldon and Jereme Yoho.

Of course, you would not be reading this now had J. Banks Smither, my editor at The History Press, not seen promise in the work. I appreciate his guidance over the last twenty months. He was especially forgiving with my many deadline misfires, including the last one so that I could see Twisted Sister in Las Vegas. I’m also grateful to Julia Turner, who spearheaded the editorial review process on behalf of my publisher, as well as Erin Owens and Leigh Scott on the sales and marketing side of the operation. To my William & Mary intern Ben Ernst and my whole team of sixty-eight individuals who scrutinized the manuscript at various points and to various degrees before it was shipped off for good, thank you for the expediency with which you carried our your crucial job.

Many thanks go to Caroline Stone for keeping me motivated and focused on completing this epic undertaking. I could not have finished it without her. I also credit key mainstays over the last decade plus—Michael J. Fox, Keri Markiewicz and Ken Stolle—whose friendship and guidance has always steered me right.

Two early supporters of this project passed away before its publication. The first is Delegate Vince Callahan, the longest-serving Republican member of the Virginia General Assembly, who, along with many of his former colleagues, made my work in politics bending the rules of partisanship so fulfilling. The other is Phil Morris, my ice hockey coach and shaman at William & Mary, who was also a dear friend. For Phil, there was no setback in life that couldn’t be remedied by a Jimmy Buffet or Warren Zevon song. We could argue for hours about politics or howl about Tribe hockey’s crisis of the moment, but at the end of the night, after a gulp of Scotland’s finest export, we’d always come to an agreeable resolution.

The list of folks below who contributed to the book is pretty extensive, and if I forgot anyone, I apologize. I want to thank the following individuals who interviewed with me, volunteered their editing skills and offered advice and direction: Jenny Nadicksbernd Ahrens, Senator Kenny Alexander, Gary Allen, Beth Andres, Bob Archer, Shawn Armbrust, the Honorable Ward Armstrong, Frank Atkinson, John Backus, Matt Bai, Alisa Bailey, Mary Lynne Bailey, Sheryl Bailey, Dan Barton, Delegate Viola Baskerville, Katie Benghauser, John Bennett, Michael Bills, Diana Blackburn, Peter Blake, Delegate Bob Bloxom, Bob Blue, Roswitha Bollinger, Sandy Bowen, LeAnn Buntrock, Vince Burgess, Madge Bush, Delegate Preston Bryant, Delegate Vince Callahan, Yvonne Weight Callahan, Carrie Caumont, Tom Champion, Senator John Chichester, Aneesh Chopra, Todd Christensen, Delegate Whitt Clement, Janet Clements, Michael Cline, Steven Combs, Keyanna Conner, Hap Connors, Tom Cosgrove, Mayor Jim Council, Brynne Craig, Dave Croall, Bob Crouch, Sherry Crumley, Linda Dalch, Betsey Daley, Ben Davenport, Senator Jeannemarie Davis, Congressman Tom Davis, Jo Lynne DeMary, Suzette Denslow, Dana Dickens, Bill Dickinson, Delegate Jim Dillard, Thomas Dobrowolski, Glenn DuBois, Wyatt Durrette, Margaret Edds, Brenda Edwards, Kurt Erikson, Ben Ernst, Adam Ewing, Brett Feinstein, Don Finley, Colonel Steve Flaherty, Kay Floyd, George Foresman, Robert Fourie, Michael J. Fox, Larry Framme, Paulette French, Paul Galanti, Bob Gibson, Delegate Pete Giesen, Zack Golden, Bea González, Lynne Robin Green, Teresa Gregson, Shayna Gunn, Lieutenant Governor John Hager, Kevin Hall, David Hallock, Jill Hanken, Rebecca Hanmer, Bernie Henderson, Jane Henderson, Mike Henry, Meg Heubeck, Scott Hippert, Paul Hirschbiel, John Hishta, Pierce Homer, Kristen Howard, Senator Janet Howell, Nick Howie, Anna Healy James, Steve Jarding, Pete Jobse, Adrienne Johnson, John Jones, Robley Jones, Linda Kaboolian, Jeff Keever, Bob Kemmler, Hugh Keogh, Quentin Kidd, Mark Kilduff, Melissa King, Mark Kington, Darren Kinnaird, Doug Koelemay, Jane Kusiak, Bill Leighty, Josh Levi, Senator Lynwood Lewis, Michael Lipford, Rob Lockridge, Susan Magill, Keri Markiewicz, Joe Maroon, John Marshall, Sheriff Mark Marshall, Dianne Martin, Gerald Massengill, Ed Matricardi, Caitlyn Mayers, Governor Terry McAuliffe, Kate McCarroll, Rob McClintock, Delegate Jennifer McLellan, Clark Mercer, Kelly Thomasson Mercer, Leigh Middleditch, Christie Miller, Dave Mixer, Martha Moore, Mario Morino, Nigel Morris, Jenny Morris, Phil Morris, Princess Moss, Delegate Tayloe Murphy, Bill Murray, Jim Murray, Liz Natonski, Sheriff Fred Newman, George Newstrom, Senator Tommy Norment, Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam, Neal Noyes, Morgan O’Brien, Sean O’Brien, Debbie Oswalt, Erin Owens, David Paylor, Anderson Payne, Ann Haden Payne, Carter Payne, Gray Payne, Judson Payne, Libbie Payne, Liza Payne, Nancy Payne, Ned Payne, Rose Payne, Susanna Payne, Tay Payne, Tom Payne, Nicholas Perrins, Senator Russ Potts, Scott Price, Ellen Qualls, Cass Rasnick, Delegate Panny Rhodes, K. Clayton Roberts, Mary Beth Roberts, William Robinson, Katie Roeper, John Rorhbach, Mark Rubin, John Ruffin, Michael Ruggieri, Larry Sabato, Larry Sartoris, Senator Dick Saslaw, Mike Schewel, Anne Schlussler, Dana Schrad, Leigh Scott, Delegate Steve Shannon, Colette Sheehy, Sarah Sheldon, Bill Shelton, Philip Shucet, Daniel Smith, Doug Smith, Gabriella Smith, J. Banks Smither, Candy Snyder, John Sokolowski, Debbie Stolle, Sheriff Ken Stolle, Caroline Stone, Secretary Levar Stoney, Senator Walter Stosch, Todd Stottlemyer, Matt Strickler, Bob Stroube, Ken Stroupe, Richard the Godfather Swann, Susan Swecker, Alex Theodoridis, Pia Trigiani, Julia Turner, Jim Ukrop, Darth Vader, Jacqui Vignali, Katherine Waddell, Lisa Wallmeyer, Senator John Warner, Senator Mark Warner, Judy Wason, Tom Watkins, Katie Webb, Courtney Weeran, Lana Westfall, Belle Wheelan, Garth Wheeler, Senator Mary Margaret Whipple, Tom Whipple, Michaele White, Sam Wilder, Earle Williams, Carol Wood, Ken Woodley, Senator Jane Woods, Dubby Wynne and Jereme Yoho.

Finally, anyone who knows me well is plainly aware that I’m obsessed with the movies and music of the last century’s greatest cultural decade: the ’80s. Classic films like The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Back to School, Weird Science and St. Elmo’s Fire, as well as iconic bands like Foreigner, Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe and Metallica, defined a decade best known for embracing individuality, defiance and excess. The rise of MTV coincided with an explosion of new wave, pop, glam rock, hip-hop and heavy metal hits, as well as unforgettable love songs and epic power ballads. It was this eclectic music that had as much of an influence as anything else on the final product. In fact, not a page of the book was written without the following artists and bands playing in the background—seriously: .38 Special, 10cc, A Flock of Seagulls, a-Ha, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Air Supply, Alan Parsons Project, Animotion, Asia, the B-52’s, Bad English, Bananarama, the Bangles, Beastie Boys, Belinda Carlisle, Benny Mardones, Berlin, Billy Idol, Billy Joel, Billy Ocean, Billy Squier, Bob Seger, Bon Jovi, Bonnie Tyler, Boston, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Adams, the Cars, Cheap Trick, Cher, Chicago, Christopher Cross, Cinderella, the Clash, Concrete Blonde, Corey Hart, Crowded House, the Cult, the Cure, Cutting Crew, Cyndi Lauper, Damn Yankees, Dan Hartman, David Bowie, DeBarge, Def Leppard, Deniece Williams, Depeche Mode, Dexys Midnight Runners, Dio, Dire Straits, Don Felder, Don Henley, Duran Duran, Eddy Grant, Eddie Money, Electric Light Orchestra, Elton John, Eric Carmen, Europe, Eurythmics, Extreme, Foreigner, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Genesis, George Michael, Glen Frey, the Go-Go’s, Golden Earring, Great White, Guns N’ Roses, Hall & Oates, Heart, the Hooters, Howard Jones, Huey Lewis and the News, the Human League, Information Society, INXS, Irene Cara, the J. Gels Band, Jackson Browne, Jan Hammer, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, John Cougar Mellencamp, John Parr, John Waite, Journey, Kansas, Kenny Loggins, Kim Carnes, Kim Wilde, KISS, Level 42, Lionel Richie, Lita Ford, Living Colour, Lou Gramm, Loverboy, Madonna, Matthew Wilder, Men at Work, Men Without Hats, Metallica, Michael Jackson, Midnight Oil, Mike + the Mechanics, Modern English, Mötley Crüe, Mr. Big, Mr. Mister, Naked Eyes, Nazereth, New Kids on the Block, New Order, Night Ranger, Oingo Boingo, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, the Outfield, Ozzy Ozbourne, Pat Benetar, Patrick Swayze, Paul Simon, Paul Young, Pet Shop Boys, Peter Cetera, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Poison, the Police, the Pretenders, Prince, the Psychedelic Furs, Queen, Queensryche, Quiet Riot, R.E.M., Ratt, Ray Parker Jr., REO Speedwagon, Rick Astley, Rick James, Rick Springfield, Robert Palmer, Rockwell, Rod Stewart, Roxette, RUN-D.M.C., Salt-NPepa, Sammy Hagar, Scandal, Scorpions, Simple Minds, Skid Row, Soft Cell, Spandau Ballet, Squeeze, Starship, Stephen Bishop, Steve Perry, Steve Winwood, Styx, Survivor, Talking Heads, Tears for Fears, Thomas Dolby, Thompson Twins, Tina Turner, Tommy Tutone, Tone Lōc, Toto, Tracy Chapman, the Traveling Wilburys, Twisted Sister, U2, UB40, Van Halen, Wang Chung, Warrant, Wham!, Whitesnake, Wilson Phillips, Winger, Yello, Yes, Young MC and ZZ Top.

I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Politics be damned. Let’s consider what’s best for the men and women of this

great state and their families and children.

—Senator John W. Warner

1

MARK AND JOHN

Mark Warner was dead in the water. At least, that’s what the polls suggested leading right up to election day. Media outlets had the successful businessman consistently down anywhere between twenty and thirty-two points in the race for the U.S. Senate over his opponent, John Warner, a three-term incumbent and household name in Virginia who earlier in his career served as navy secretary under President Richard Nixon. While the two gentlemen shared a last name, the incumbent had a distinct advantage over his challenger. John Warner, a skilled Washington insider and Renaissance man, had a well-documented history of bucking the party that elected him three times. Confounding faithful conservatives with an innate independent streak equally endeared him to the state’s large assemblage of moderates. Known universally for putting his state and his country ahead of politics, the big-tent Republican had enjoyed unusually wide appeal from voters across the political spectrum since he had captured his party’s nomination in 1978. However, in the 1996 U.S. Senate race, John Warner did not take his popularity for granted. He decided to bring his A-game to the political battlefield for the first time in eighteen years.

Enter Mark Warner, a Northern Virginia telecom wunderkind fueled by equal parts business savvy, political know-how and pure energy. A fierce competitor who would not stand to be outworked by anyone, Mark Warner never took the easy road. Rumored to be a formidable challenger for governor in 1997, the Democrat opted instead to run a year earlier, when he would face Virginia’s most popular politician and his most formidable opponent. Running a campaign that capitalized in part on the largely familiar Warner surname, the Democrat plastered thousands of MarkNotJohn bumper stickers on cars from one end of the commonwealth to the other and called himself the right Warner for Virginia’s future in television ads. It was the first time in a popularly elected U.S. Senate race that the dueling party nominees shared a name.¹ Even John Warner got in on the gimmickry, coining his own campaign slogan: Make your mark for John.² Creative word play aside, the stakes were high. Both Warners took the race seriously. It was 1996 and a presidential election year, with Senator Bob Dole facing off against Bill Clinton, the incumbent president, who in his first term worked with a Republican-controlled Congress to cut the federal deficit by half.³ If successful, Clinton would be the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to be reelected to a second full term.

Presidentially, the Old Dominion was fully competitive, a toss-up right to election day, said Dr. Larry Sabato, founder of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.⁴ Reform Party candidate Ross Perot was making his second attempt at national office after having helped propel Clinton ahead of President George H.W. Bush just four years earlier, thus ending twelve years of Republican control of the White House. The 1996 race was anticipated to be as spirited as the last.

The Warner versus Warner race instead was expected to be a blowout, easily sending John Warner back to Washington for his fourth term. The media clung to the polling data in its characterization of the race from the start. Seven months prior to the election, Mason-Dixon Research had John Warner polling more than thirty points over the challenger.⁵ The elder Warner’s lead was not unexpected, as he was reported to have a 99 percent name identification among Virginians, an incredible feat even for an eighteen-year veteran holding a high-profile statewide office.⁶

Two polls taken in July showed a slightly more focused electorate. At the end of the month, Mason-Dixon had the race at twenty-five points, with John Warner leading fifty-three to twenty-eight. Virginia Commonwealth University had reached a similar conclusion a week earlier, confirming John Warner’s commanding two-to-one lead.⁷ Two months later and after the unofficial kickoff of the fall election season, the numbers had hardly budged. Shortly after Labor Day, Mason-Dixon reported John Warner holding steady at 54 percent, Mark Warner growing his stake to 34 and undecided voters dwindling to just 12.⁸ Several weeks later and just a month out from election day, a joint Richmond Times-Dispatch/NBC 12 poll sealed the fate of the race in the minds of many with a twenty-point spread, putting John Warner solidly at 48 percent, Mark Warner at 28 and a high undecided vote at 24.⁹

Despite the seemingly impossible task before him, Mark Warner was not trounced on November 5. The Senate election, expected to be a runaway for the state’s most admired politician, turned surprisingly tight as the votes were counted, said Sabato.¹⁰ Congressman Don Beyer, the Democratic lieutenant governor at the time, attributes Mark Warner’s closing the twenty-point gap to his relentless focus and workhorse campaign style. In the last seventy-two hours, when nobody was polling, the undecideds have had this well-documented trend to come to the candidate who’s worked harder, said Beyer.¹¹ After the dust settled on November 5, Bill Clinton was reelected to a second term, all of Virginia’s incumbent congressmen who sought reelection were returned to Washington and John Warner was safe again, receiving 52.5 percent of the vote, a mere five-point victory over newcomer Mark Warner.¹² However, late in the evening, a glitch in the returns nearly upended this election, even after Mark Warner had already conceded.

At about 10:00 p.m., John Warner took the stage at his victory party in Falls Church. Greeting the energized crowd, he had some good news. He had just gotten off the phone with his opponent, who Warner said, very graciously—and I underline very graciously—conceded defeat.¹³ He added, I wish him well. It was tough, a tough two years. And I hope that I emerge a much stronger senator. I fear no challenge. I fear no challenge, to lead Virginia into the next century.¹⁴ The victorious candidate and his team headed back to their hotel suite to wait out the final tally while something out of the ordinary was happening with the numbers. That’s when John Warner asked, What is going on here? said Tom Davis, Warner’s campaign chairman who was elected to Congress a year earlier, remembering, It was a tense time.¹⁵

At 10:30 p.m., ten miles down the road, Mark Warner addressed his supporters at the Radisson Hotel in Alexandria. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that…we hope that salty old Virginia ham continues to bring home the bacon to the commonwealth, he said of the evening’s victor.¹⁶ At that same moment, the Virginia News Service was reporting that the two Warners were just twelve thousand votes apart.¹⁷ Seeing the surge in votes on the television screen, campaign staffers rushed to Warner and interrupted his address mid-sentence. The crowd began cheering and chanting, but Mark Warner asked them to calm down, insisting that he finish his concession speech.¹⁸ Warner told the packed room of Democrats, I want to finish this, but if I have a chance to use version A, don’t worry, I’ll be back.¹⁹

Meanwhile, back in Falls Church, John Warner’s campaign manager John Hishta got a call from Republican strategist Kenny Klinge, who had been monitoring the returns upstairs, saying, You better get the candidate up in the war room now…this is a lot closer.²⁰ With John Warner tucked away in his hotel room, Hishta, Klinge, Davis and Randy Hinaman, a consultant on the campaign, were feverishly trying to figure out what was happening. Everyone’s attention turned to Portsmouth, which was the last major jurisdiction to report. John Warner was up by only a few thousand votes. It was essentially a fifty-fifty race. Then Tom Davis had an idea. Tom kept saying, ‘There’s something not right…there’s something not right…there’s something not right,’ recalls Hishta. So he asked a couple of the guys in the room to get him some precinct polling results from Fairfax County that he knew were bellwether precincts.²¹

Davis had the precinct historical performance numbers down cold. After campaigning for others and himself for years in Virginia’s largest jurisdiction, he was able to figure out immediately that it was impossible for Mark Warner to have over-performed in Fairfax as the State Board of Elections was reporting. A few well-placed calls to election officials corrected the error, and just before midnight, the numbers initially showing a deadlocked race were flipped, leaving John Warner with his rightful six-point lead. Hishta could not have been more relieved after those crazy couple hours, especially because he had given his boss the conflicting news throughout the evening. At that point, we had said to Senator Warner, ‘You had won.’ Then we had said, ‘We’re not sure you won.’ Then we joked and went back to him and said, ‘We think you won now.’²²

A relieved victor, John Warner told the crowd of Republicans, I need a new name having [won] this Senate race. My new name for the future is ‘that Salty Survivor.’ Thank you.²³ Indeed, he was a survivor, being outworked and outspent two to one by his forty-one-year-old opponent, a self-made millionaire and pioneer in the cellular business. I don’t regret spending a single dime, said Mark Warner after the election. The fight was worth every bit of it. While my wallet may be a little bit lighter, my heart is full.²⁴ Both Warners emerged from the race seasoned campaigners, fighting off challengers for their respective party nomination and facing each other in a spirited debate over the kind of leadership that would guide Virginia into the twenty-first century.

Mark Warner was supposed to lose this race and lose it badly. We had to fight against conventional wisdom, he says. Conventional wisdom was we weren’t making progress. The people are always ahead of the press. They were responding to our message.²⁵ Governor Doug Wilder worked hard for Mark Warner but expressed that the media’s doubt throughout the campaign had spread to the party faithful. Wilder remembered people asking him often, ‘What are you doing this for? This guy can’t win.’ Now people are looking back and saying, ‘We could have won it.’²⁶ Regardless, Warner remained undaunted after the loss sank in. There is nothing I feel ashamed of in this campaign, nothing I regret—the time, the energy or the resources I put in, he said on election night. On Wednesday, November 6, I was either going to be a freshman United States Senator, or I was going to be a successful businessperson that hopefully didn’t put my family in any jeopardy. I am the latter.²⁷

LANDSLIDE JOHNNY

The first Republican U.S. senator in Virginia since Reconstruction announced he was retiring after having served just one term. William Scott, previously elected to the House of Representatives, won his seat in the U.S. Senate in 1972 in a landslide with President Nixon at the top of the ticket.²⁸ Scott’s departure left no clear successor, with both parties entertaining a barrage of candidates for the 1978 election. The Democrats, opting for a June convention in Williamsburg to pick their nominee, had eight candidates of varying backgrounds vying for their party’s favor. Topping the list were Clive DuVal, a progressive Northern Virginia state senator; Rufus Phillips, a former Fairfax County supervisor; Hunter Andrews, a longtime state senator from Hampton; Carrington Williams, a delegate from McLean; and Andrew Miller, a former two-term attorney general who lost the nomination for governor just a year earlier.²⁹

Hours after voting began inside William & Mary Hall, the 4,000 convention delegates had arrived at the third ballot with no one candidate receiving enough votes to be declared the victor. Andrew Miller was, however, leading Clive DuVal by 784 votes. Soon thereafter, while the ballots were being counted, an agreement among five of the candidates was reached. Led by DuVal, they decided that the race was likely to remain deadlocked, as any individual attempts to direct their supporters to back another candidate in subsequent ballots were futile. In a moment of unity and in the interest of expediency, Hunter Andrews, standing with six of his opponents at the platform, moved that the party faithful accept Andrew Miller unanimously as their Senate nominee.³⁰

The Democrats had large shoes to fill, with their gathering falling one week after the Republican convention. Dubbed the Great Indoor Primary, the 1978 Republican nominating convention held in Richmond attracted over ten thousand delegates, alternates and observers, making it at the time the largest state political convention in the history of the world.³¹ The four-way battle to be William Scott’s successor officially began seven months earlier, when Richard Dick Obenshain announced his candidacy. The Blacksburg native moved to Richmond in 1960, where he began his political career as chairman of the Virginia Young Republicans. After two failed attempts at elected office—losing in 1964 for Congress and 1969 for attorney general—Obenshain took over as the state party chairman in 1972. He helped construct a coalition of Republicans, Independents and conservative Democrats who had successfully elected Republicans to statewide office, beginning in 1973 with Mills Godwin’s return to the Governor’s Mansion, this time as a Republican. Obenshain’s political sense and on-target message took him to the top post in the party the same year, when he became co-chairman of the Republican National Committee. A partisan political résumé made him an early favorite among the party’s grass roots, but Obenshain would not win the nomination without a fight.³²

Jumping in the race first to challenge Obenshain was Governor Linwood Holton, who announced his candidacy in December. Holton had tried unsuccessfully to defeat then Democrat Mills Godwin in the 1965 race for governor. Four years later he tried again—this time successfully—and thus was elected as Virginia’s first Republican governor in almost a century. Democratic officials immediately feared Holton’s wide appeal in the general election. In both prior statewide races, Holton had run as a moderate, campaigning on the progressive principles of the ‘Mountain Valley Republicans’ of western Virginia.³³ Preferring a run against the more conservative Obenshain, many Democrats feared "Holton’s proven ability to cut into traditional Democratic strength among labor union