WASHINGTON — Republican Ed Gillespie is confidently taking his attacks on incumbent Sen. Mark Warner across Virginia, even though the Democrat holds a 20-point lead in recent polls ahead of November’s election.
Gillespie said in an interview that he is hopeful his economic plan will be key to giving his candidacy a boost because “electric bills are up, food costs are up, and people are feeling squeezed.”
He has repeatedly attacked Warner for voting in favor of many Obama administration policies, including the Affordable Care Act. Warner says he reaches across the Senate aisle to get things done and fixed when needed, just as he did in Richmond when he was governor.
A Christopher Newport University poll released this week suggested Libertarian Robert Sarvis is getting a significant, single-digit level of support in the race.
“Either Mark Warner or Ed Gillespie, one of us is going to be the next senator for the great Commonwealth of Virginia,” Gillespie says.
“I think it’s a very high stakes election. I think as voters get closer to election day and they look at those choices and they realize this is going to have a real impact, not only on Virginia but on the United States, because it does effect control of the United States Senate, when you have a high stakes election like that, I think people [will] choose between the two candidates,” he says.
Sarvis drew 146,084 votes as the Libertarian candidate in last year’s race for governor, which was 6.5 percent of the vote. That is more than twice Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s margin of victory over Republican Ken Cuccinelli.
“I think there’s a different dynamic in this race, that’s my sense,” Gillespie says.
“There’s a pretty clear choice between Mark Warner and his policies
