Mark Warner defeats Mizusawa for fourth U.S. Senate term in Virginia

Federal workers bore the brunt of Trump’s early workforce-slashing efforts

Reporting from Richmond, Virginia, the Associated Press said Democratic incumbent Mark Warner defeated Republican challenger Bert Mizusawa on Tuesday to win a fourth term representing Virginia in the U.S. Senate. The Associated Press declared Warner the winner at 7 p.m. EST.

Warner’s victory keeps Virginia’s Senate seat with the same Democratic incumbent and gives him a fourth term in the chamber. He will return to the Senate after the election.

Warner serves as vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Republican challenger Bert Mizusawa is a retired Army major general and an Afghanistan war veteran. He was the candidate Warner defeated in Virginia’s Senate contest.

Warner’s victory came in a state with some of the highest numbers of federal workers. The Associated Press presented Virginia’s concentration of federal employees as context for the result.

Those workers bore the brunt of President Donald Trump’s efforts to slash the government workforce early in his second term. The AP report made that workforce backdrop part of its account of Warner’s win.

The two candidates brought different public-service backgrounds: Warner as a Democratic incumbent and committee vice chairman, and Mizusawa as a retired Army major general and Afghanistan war veteran. Warner’s victory left Virginia’s Senate seat with the incumbent for a fourth term.