Sen. Mark Warner gives victory speech following re-election

First of all, I'm incredibly grateful for the people of Virginia for putting your trust in me one more time. Eliza, pretty damn good job. I want to thank Eliza, a wonderful wife, Lisa, Jillian, two additions to our family, son-in-law and future son-in-law, Pete and Ferris, and one of my two great grandchildren, Charlie. Give it up for Charlie! You know, as Eliza said, growing up as the governor of a senator's kid, I missed a lot of games, interrupted some vacations, and Lord knows there were more political conversations at our meal table than most should put up, but I am so incredibly proud of all three of my daughters, who they are, and what they've become. I want to thank our incredible campaign team, led by a dear friend and relentless worker, Zach Golden, and all of the team, everyone who knocked on doors, made those calls. Worked their tail off. I want to thank all my donors. I know at times you didn't really believe in the last couple of days that I said, well, they could drop a hundred million dollar super pack on me tomorrow. And what about our two great members of Congress, Don Beyer and James Walkinshaw? Give it up for them. And yes, I will acknowledge Terry McAuliffe and I have been friends for 46 years and you were my boss for a nanosecond. And if we could, Terry's been a A great friend, a great governor, a great leader of our party. And my gosh, Terry, if we could ever bring you out of your shell. Thank you for that. And for those of you who don't know, either Speaker Don Scott or Lieutenant Governor Ghazala Hashmi, they are incredible leaders. And I can assure you. They make me so comfortable, but the next generation of Virginia leaders are here and ready for the job. Thank you, Ghazala and Don, thank you. And I was going to go through all those other candidates as we are still, since we're still counting the votes, but Terry's declared them all winners already. Because the truth is, Don and James and I are going to actually have it. More Democratic colleagues. And the path to Hakeem Jeffries being Speaker leads through Virginia. You know, this is my last campaign. I wasn't going to use this line, but I'll use it since you booed. I do work at the only place in America where at age 71 I'm still lower middle-aged. Which is both true and pathetic. But I was thinking back to my first campaign in 1996. And some of you have been on that journey with me. Since that time, I'm grateful for your friendships. I'm grateful for your patience. And I tell you, I did kind of take a crazy race. I ran against John Warner. And it was the famous Warner versus Warner race. And I promise this will be the last time I use this ever. We did have a bumper strip that said Mark, not John. And in Danville, somebody looked at the bumper strip and said, excuse me, Mark, is that a biblical reference? No divine intervention. John won. But John Warner taught me a lot. He taught me that we could disagree, but if we still put our country first, we could find common ground. We found ways to work together when I was governor. One of the things I was proudest of is that he endorsed me when I ran for re-election in the Senate, and I spoke at his funeral. That kind of politics where we can disagree. But still finding common ground and that love for our country and our commonwealth, God knows we need more of that in our country today. You know, after I got the silver medal in 1996, Virginia gave me another chance in 2001. I was proud to be elected governor of them. Proud of the fact that even with the two-to-one Republican legislature, we found common cause. We made record investments in education. We remembered parts of the commonwealth that have too often been left behind. We've found ways to be recognized as the best managed state, the best state for business and the thing most importantly, the best state to receive an education from, from preschool to graduate school. Of course, I also learned one thing. As governor, it's a little bit easier being governor than being one of a hundred in the Senate. And it's been a journey in this sense. But I'm still proud, but through this last term where we did the infrastructure bill, which was providing broadband to those parts of Virginia that had been left behind, when we ended up capping insulin at $35, when we brought semiconductor manufacturing back to America, when we recognized that America's position in the world is based not only because its military and its economy, but because we, for years, literally post-World War II, have been viewed as the guiding light, the good guys. Now, that has all been put at risk, more recently. You know, when I think back about this, and it is a very kind of full circle night, when I ran in 1996, I never thought I would be actually asking you one last time to vote for me 30 years later. Thank you. And there's a lot of things that I couldn't have imagined in 1996 and about 2026. For example, I couldn't imagine That, you know, I was at the beginning of this, you know, whole thing around cell phones, and it's been a, you know, I knew it was going to be big, I just never realized 30 years later they'd be used for everything but having a telephone conversation. I couldn't have imagined that AI writing term papers, or changing our economy in a fundamental way, or creating images that Dave Marsden never really did in person. And I definitely couldn't have imagined Donald Trump, Winning the presidency not once, but twice. Now, you know, Mark, you had a pretty good run. Why are you asking folks this last time? Because there was one person in particular who, as I made this decision, wasn't going to let me decide anything else. That was my daughter, Madison. And she was one of my longest supporters, obviously. She was never shy about telling me what she thought. She was never shy about telling me what I was not doing right or how I could improve. But what she said particularly in the last months of her life was, you know, Dad, you've got the power. You've got to do things every day to make things better. And while there's not a day that our family doesn't desperately miss Madison and the joy she brought to our lives and so many others, I know that I am more committed to that notion of having been rehired tonight to commit every day I'm in this job to making things better. You know, because... And we've seen this president. who frankly doesn't think the rules apply to him and our administration and not just him but the grifters and grafters around him who don't see public office as a way to serve but as a way for actual personal enrichment. A government that we've seen time and again and I've seen this with my Republican colleagues who I know love our country but somehow seem to have lost their spine and seem to put loyalty to that person more importantly than loyal to our country and what our country stands for. And I've seen Virginian families. Working so hard and playing by the rules and still falling behind. While tariffs, it's nothing but a tax. A reckless war in Iran that didn't ever need to happen. Make their life harder. You know, I don't think Virginians should have to pay more at the grocery store, at the gas pump, or on electric bills because the decision's coming out of D.C. And I don't think the President of the United States should be focused on enriching himself and his friends at the expense of our great nation. You know, for... 30 years, I've had the honor of doing public service. And there's kind of one rule. You know, you always got to put the people you work for first. My view is this is a job and you've been kind enough to hire me. And that notion of putting you first is what's going to guide me in this last term. You know, I always think America, and particularly those of us as Democrats, are at our best when we look for it. The future can be scary. And right now, with AI, There are possibilities of innovation, there's possibilities of great creation, whole new industries, but there's also a dark side of this, from data centers, to AI safety, to the notion that we've got to make sure that we create jobs for that next generation of college students coming out that are going to be meaningful. And this is too important to be left. To Donald Trump and a few of these tech bros making all the rules. We deserve better in America. Thank you. People have mentioned, Don talked about this. This is an election that puts America at a moral crossroads. I still view America as the good guys around. I still think our direction and our future stands with democracies and the people of Ukraine, not a butcher like Vladimir Putin. I still believe... We are a country, the wealthiest country in the world, and it is a sin in America today after these snap cuts that 50% of our families with kids at least have one day a week where their food is insecure. We are America. We're better than this. We are a country where... We should and must care about human rights around the world and human rights here in our country. We are stronger with a diverse country, an inclusive country, a country that guarantees everyone the same kind of fair shot that I got. We all know we have to make life more affordable. We have to build more housing so the whole notion of that first home, you don't have to wait till you're 41 years old. And I tell you, as someone who I believe the healthcare system failed my daughter, I am committed, it is time to bring universal healthcare to America. Let me quickly add, before you all think, oh my God, Warner's going lefty at the end, no, that's not just morally right. It is the only way we'll drive down costs and make healthcare affordable. It's terrible. And while this should not have even been an issue, You know, I've been... Frantic beyond belief that... This president or his allies might try to interfere in free and fair elections. So far it doesn't seem like that has taken place. God bless because we are turning out in numbers that it's going to be too big to rig. But we still have to stay vigilant. We have to stay vigilant over the coming days and weeks as these new members get added to Congress. We have to recognize as well that the strength of our country has been that we respect rule of law. And we should never, ever again accept the levels of corruption and graft that has taken place in this administration. And we have to protect our democracy. You know, I want to make it clear to every Virginian, whether you voted for me or not, I work for you. And I am willing to work with anyone of any political stripe, Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, Vegetarian. If you've got good ideas on how we, how to move this country and our commonwealth forward, you know, 30 years ago, I ran because I thought Virginia could be the example to the rest of the nation. In many ways, because I was a tech guy, I believe that in a connected world, you shouldn't have to leave your hometown to find a world-class job. That a kid in Tazewell County, Jeff Mitchell, growing up, should have the same opportunities as a kid growing up in Alexandria. I believed that in 1996 when I lost, I believed that in 2001 when I won, I believed that when I came to the Senate in 2008, and in 2026 when I get hired for my last time, I still believe that. We've got to make sure a fair shot is available to every Virginian and every American, where they live, who they love, who they worship, what their race is, because that is the genius of America. You know, this may be. This is my last campaign, but this is not the end of the road. You know, I start tomorrow on the next seven years. I start tomorrow on making sure this agenda becomes reality. I start tomorrow and I said to some of my friends before, you think Mark Warner so far? Wait till you see an untethered Mark Warner going forward. Thank you to a great victory. God bless you. God bless Virginia. God bless the United States of America. Start pushing me around.