RICHMOND -- Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine kept the governor's mansion in the Democratic Party's hands Tuesday.

Kaine, a former Richmond mayor and civil rights lawyer, defeated Republican nominee Jerry Kilgore and independent candidate Russ Potts in the race to become Virginia's 70th governor. Kaine received a majority of the votes cast in the three-way race and defeated Kilgore by a wider-than-expected margin.

Virginians also elected a Republican as lieutenant governor, while the attorney general's race was too close to call. The GOP retains solid control of both houses of the General Assembly, though Democrats made gains in the House of Delegates.

Kaine, 47, will succeed fellow Democrat Mark Warner, a popular governor who staked his own prestige on the outcome of Tuesday's vote. Kaine vowed to manage state government in the centrist, businesslike style in which Warner governed the past four years, and Warner eagerly promoted Kaine as his logical successor.

"Tonight, the people of Virginia have sent a message loud and clear that they like the path that we chose and they want to keep Virginia moving forward," Kaine said in a speech before raucous supporters at the Richmond Marriott.

A beaming Warner introduced Kaine and proclaimed his victory a public validation of the state government's performance.

"The other side tried all kinds of things to tear Tim down," said Warner, a possible 2008 presidential candidate. "Matter of fact, they even said, 'Let's compare how things going in Washington versus how things are going in Virginia.' We'll take that comparison any day of the week."

To win, Kaine had to overcome attacks on his views on hot-button social and cultural issues and his nuanced position on the death penalty. Kaine, a Roman Catholic, opposes capital punishment on moral grounds. But in speeches, interviews and television ads throughout the campaign, he insisted he would not use the governor's clemency power to systematically block executions.

Kilgore, the former state attorney general, waged a campaign geared toward highlighting the ideological differences between the major-party candidates, particularly on the issue of the death penalty. Kaine sought to turn the campaign into a debate about competence, leaning heavily on Warner to make his case that Virginia is on the right track.

"We proved that people are more interested in fiscal responsibility than ideological bickering," said Kaine, the son-in-law of former Republican Gov. Linwood Holton. "We proved that faith in God is a value for all and that we can all share regardless of our partisan label. And we proved that Virginians want a governor that has a positive vision about moving this commonwealth forward."

Like Warner, Kaine will preside over a politically divided government that will test his ability to forge bipartisan coalitions. Kaine's victory capped a long, expensive and hostile campaign that may be remembered more for its bitter tone than for the candidates' competing visions.

Kilgore conceded at 10:30 p.m. in a speech to somber supporters at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.

"Over the course of this campaign, we fought hard, we fought diligently for lower taxes, for limited government, for trusting the people, for the values and the vision that define the Republican Party," said Kilgore, who was flanked by his wife and children and his political mentor, U.S. Sen. George Allen. "And folks, that fight is not over."

Kilgore painted Kaine as a liberal whose positions on taxes, capital punishment, and social and cultural issues were out of step with Virginia's largely conservative electorate. Kaine portrayed Kilgore as an obstructionist whose opposition to last year's tax and budget packages amounted to a snub of education, health care and public safety programs that benefited from the legislation.

Several Kaine voters interviewed Tuesday said they believed Kaine would build on Warner's achievements.

"Mark Warner's done a pretty good job," said Paul Gluth of Botetourt County. "I want to keep the same system going."

Jane Gooch Thomas, a retired Roanoke County schoolteacher, said she backed Kaine for the same reason.

"I like Governor Warner and I'd like to see things continue as they are," she said.

Kilgore seemed to stall in public opinion polls in mid-October, shortly after his campaign began running compelling ads that attacked Kaine's record on the death penalty. One spot featured the father of a murder victim who accused Kaine of saying he would oppose the execution of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

Kaine denounced the ad and polls suggested that voters found it distasteful.

"I did not vote for Kilgore because of the Hitler comment," said Robert Little, 50, after casting his ballot at Lord Botetourt High School in Daleville.

"To stoop to ugly comments I think is demeaning and degrading, and I don't want that individual leading the state if that's the way he has to run his campaign."

"They acted like the death penalty was the most important thing in Virginia," said Kaine voter Donna Pagens of Roanoke County. "To me, there are a lot of things more important."

Staff writers David Harrison, Kevin Miller, Jen McCaffery, Joe Kennedy and Laurence Hammack contributed to this report.

By Michael Sluss

mike.sluss@roanoke.com (804) 697-1585