Associated Press

Mark Warner (left) watches election results in a Northern Virginia hotel suite with Gov. Tim Kaine (center) and Sen. Jim Webb on Tuesday. In his victory speech, Warner saluted Sen. John Warner, the retiring Republican senator whose seat he won.

Related

• Political and campaign coverage, including multimedia, resources, endorsements, maps and more

roanoke.com/politics

• State, local and national political coverage, Virginia General Assembly and gubernatorial politics

Multimedia

• Photo galleries, video, searchable municipality- and precinct-level results, Election Day analysis and an interactive map of Virginia's voting trends since 1980

Voters

• Virginia takes another step leftward
• Throughout Election Day, voters streamed to the polls
• First-time voters revel in democratic process
• Shuttles help get Tech students to polls
• Voters report sporadic problems

Individual races

• Presidential race: Jim Crow to Obama in one lifetime
• 5th District, U.S. House: 5th District race remains too close to call
• U.S. Senate: Warner enjoys overwhelming win

McLEAN -- Democrat Mark Warner won Virginia's open U.S. Senate seat in a landslide Tuesday, defeating Republican Jim Gilmore in a battle of former governors.

Warner compiled an impressive statewide majority and won all 11 of the state's congressional districts, capitalizing on the broad-based support he cultivated during his term as governor. His decisive victory means Democrats will occupy both of the state's Senate seats for the first time since 1970, when Harry Byrd left the party to become an independent.

"Tonight, by a record margin, Virginians said they want their next U.S. senator focused on results, not rhetoric," Warner told boisterous supporters gathered in a hotel ballroom at Tysons Corner.

Warner will succeed popular Republican John Warner, who is retiring after 30 years in the Senate. The two Warners are not related, but their political paths have intersected. Mark Warner made his first try for public office in 1996, losing to John Warner in a race that was closer than many expected. The former rivals became allies after Mark Warner became governor, and the Democrat often said that he would not have run for the Senate this year had John Warner decided to seek re-election.

Mark Warner saluted the retiring senator in his victory speech and said: "I will continue to seek his advice and counsel. He has been a great United States senator."

Warner was greeted on stage by Gov. Tim Kaine and U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, who will be the state's senior senator.

Warner's win helped Democrats expand their majority in the Senate. Though he delivered the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention and made several campaign appearances with presidential candidate Barack Obama, Warner insisted throughout the fall that he would be an independent-minded lawmaker. He said he wants to be part of a bipartisan coalition of "radical centrists" that would advance consensus solutions to major policy challenges, particularly economic issues.

"It might be time to send a few more senators up there who can read a balance sheet," Warner said.

Warner, 53, left the governor's office in 2006 with high approval ratings and spent several months exploring a run for president before deciding against a national campaign. The wealthy businessman became an instant front-runner when he announced his Senate candidacy last year, because of his fundraising prowess and a base of support that transcended partisan and regional boundaries. Warner raised $12.3 million for his campaign through the end of September, while Gilmore collected $1.7 million.

Business and labor groups endorsed Warner's candidacy, as did the two Republicans who led the General Assembly's budget committees during his term as governor and backed a 2004 tax increase that marked a turning point in Warner's administration.

Gilmore, 59, struggled to raise money and never gained traction in public opinion polls conducted during the campaign. He was elected governor in 1997 on a promise to eliminate the personal property tax on vehicles, but sparred with lawmakers in his own party when an economic downturn made his signature initiative more difficult to sustain.

Gilmore mounted a short-lived presidential campaign before deciding last year to seek the U.S. Senate seat. He focused heavily during his campaign on combating rising gasoline prices and emphasized his work on homeland security issues,

Gilmore congratulated Warner in a phone call and described the Democrat's campaign as "masterful." In a concession speech in Henrico County, Gilmore said that he intends to be a voice in the political debate.

"There are many issues that are now going to be facing the state and are going to be facing the United States," Gilmore said. "My intention is to continue to speak out on those issues."