Photos by The Associated Press

Candidates for U.S. Senate Mark Warner (left) and Jim Gilmore debate in McLean Thursday.

McLEAN — Former governors Mark Warner and Jim Gilmore said today that they want greater government oversight of the nation’s struggling financial institutions, but continued stinging criticism of each other in the second debate of their U.S. Senate campaign.

Warner and Gilmore clashed repeatedly over their gubernatorial records and policy positions in a debate hosted by the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, an event staged at an office complex near the Capital Beltway.

The former governors are competing for the Senate seat held by Republican John Warner, who is retiring after three decades in office. Mark Warner, a Democrat, is not related to the incumbent senator.

The two candidates immediately faced questions about a financial crisis that has sent stocks plummeting this week. Both called for regulatory reforms to help prevent similar calamities in the future, but were short on specifics.

"This is a result of too many people asleep at the switch — in Washington, on Wall Street — where everybody was looking at next quarter profits and nobody had a long-term financial plan," said Warner, who earned a fortune in the cellular telephone boom and as a venture capitalist before his 2001 election as governor.

Warner suggested that a single federal regulator overseeing all of the markets could provide better oversight than the "mish mash" of agencies that oversee financial institutions, and argued that "a lot these excesses have really taken place the last six to eight years,"

Gilmore, a Republican, said he also favored tighter controls financial institutions, particularly to curb risky lending practices that have contributed to the crisis on Wall Street.

"You simply have to have more oversight right now to make sure people understand that they can’t operate their businesses that way," said Gilmore, who preceded Warner as governor.

Asked after the debate if Republicans must reconsider their approach to regulating businesses, Gilmore said: "Yeah, and when I’m senator I’m going to provide that kind of rethinking."

Much of the 90-minute debate covered familiar ground, but revealed growing bitterness between the rival campaigns. Gilmore and Warner questioned each other’s honesty as they quarreled over their gubernatorial records and policy positions.

Gilmore, who trails Warner in public opinion polls, used every opportunity to criticize the Democrat for breaking a 2001 campaign promise not to raise taxes and repeatedly linked Warner to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Warner ridiculed Gilmore’s "plug and play" criticism and accused his predecessor of leaving the state in fiscal disarray, forcing Warner to cut spending before pushing a 2004 tax increase through the General Assembly.

"Virginians will judge us on who was straight-forward on the budget," said Warner, who touted his ability for forge working coalitions that cross party lines.

"Bipartisanship, Mark, is not a substitute for honesty," Gilmore said. "The people of Virginia want someone who will keep their word."