Virginia

Warner, Gillespie to Meet in Final Debate Monday Night

Debate begins at 7 p.m.

Monday night, Sen. Mark Warner (D) and Ed Gillespie (R) will face off in their final debate in the race for U.S. Senate in Virginia.

One issue sure to come up is the courting of former state Sen. Phillip Puckett, who resigned earlier this year, tipping the balance of power in the state Senate to Republicans.

The FBI is now looking into that resignation.

Puckett was reportedly up for a high-ranking job with the Virginia Tobacco Commission, which is controlled by Republicans.

The Washington Post reported:

The son of a former Virginia state senator has told federal investigators that U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner discussed the possibility of several jobs, including a federal judgeship, for the senator’s daughter in an effort to dissuade him from quitting the evenly divided state Senate.

Warner was part of a string of high-powered Virginia Democrats who in early June pressed then-state senator Phillip P. Puckett not to go through with plans to give up his seat in the middle of a bitterly partisan battle over health care.

A Warner spokesman acknowledged Friday that the conversation occurred, but he emphasized that the senator had made no explicit job offer.

Over the weekend, News4 mistakenly reported that Warner was being accused of bribery.

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We regret the error.

Puckett ultimately pulled out of consideration for the Tobacco Commission job.

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