Mark R. Warner

Mark Robert Warner (born December 15, 1954) is an American politician and the current Democratic governor of Virginia.

Warner was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and raised in Vernon, Connecticut, where he graduated from Rockville High School. He then attended George Washington University, and in 1977 became the first person in his family to graduate from college. He then graduated from Harvard Law School in 1980.

Warner was a Senate staff member in the early 1980s. He then used his knowledge of federal telecommunications policies as a broker of cellular phone franchise licenses, making a large fortune. As managing director of Columbia Capital Corporation he helped found or was an early investor in a number of tech companies. He co-founded Nextel as well as Capital Cellular Corporation.

He then involved himself in innovative public efforts related to health care, telecommunications, information technology, and education. He managed Douglas Wilder's successful 1989 gubernatorial campaign and then made his own first bid for public office, unsuccessfully running for the U.S. Senate in 1996 against Republican Senator John Warner (no relation).

Warner campaigned for Governor as a fiscally conservative Democrat in 2001 after years of slowly building up a power base in rural Virginia, defeating the Republican candidate, then-state Attorney General Mark Earley, by a margin of almost 100,000 votes. Warner's term as Governor has been dominated by his struggle with Virginia's massive debt, inherited from the prior governor, Republican Jim Gilmore. He is the current chairman of the National Governors Association and chairman of the Southern Governors' Association.

Warner's popularity paid off for the Democrats when in 2003 they made a net gain in the Virginia House of Delegates for the first time in generations (although the House remained under Republican control). He succeeded in passing a tax bill to improve the state's financial balance sheet. He won the support of several key Republican legislators and the Virginia Chamber of Commerce for the proposal, though the effort also led to an attack ad campaign from conservative seniors who opposed raising taxes and may have also been taking advantage of the opportunity to tarnish his fairly positive image in advance of possible future campaigns. He has also made a major push to improve high school graduation. He has encountered some criticism for being too low-key and not leading on other issues but maintains he is to trying to avoid unproductive posturing and partisanship.

He is considered to be a potential candidate for Senate in 2006 and/or Presidential candidate in 2008. After the 2004 presidential election defeat, Warner has been regarded by some Democrats as a Bill Clinton-like figure the party could rally around in the 2008 presidential election. His business experience, southern state address, fundraising connections within high-tech and venture capital circles, and record of working with black leaders, all help give him an attractive political resume, though only having one term as an elected official so far may be considered too little experience to move up to President—the same point was raised about John Edwards' one Senate term. (Virginia prohibits consecutive terms for Governors. Warner was unsuccessful in an attempt to repeal this limit. He is young enough that if he were to enter the Senate to gain additional experience and exposure, he could wait until 2012 or 2016 before running for President. If he did run in 2008, he might compete directly with Evan Bayh for moderate Democrats.

His wife is an appealing and active First Lady and a positive campaign asset. They have three children.

External link

• Governor Warner's website (http://www.governor.virginia.gov/)