📎 Sharing some old photos
I’d like a minute of your time to reintroduce myself
I know I’ve been reaching out a lot about my reelection race in Virginia these days, so today, I want to take a step back and reintroduce myself.
Like so many Americans, I grew up in a middle-class family and was lucky enough to attend good public schools.
Fast forward a few years, I became the first person in my family to graduate from college, made possible by working multiple jobs and taking out student loans. That’s something I’m incredibly proud of.
Before I became a U.S. Senator, I actually started out in business. I invested my entire life savings, a few thousand dollars, into my first venture… which failed in about 6 weeks, by the way. My second venture did a little better, lasting six months, but it wasn’t until my third try that things started to look up. I’m extremely proud to have founded what became one of Virginia’s leading tech companies.
It was actually that experience that got me into public service. I thought that everybody in this country ought to have the same kind of fair shot that I had. So, I ran for governor in Virginia, and won.
And if you can believe it, my good friend Tim Kaine (now my fellow Virginia Senator) was my Lieutenant Governor.
After our four years in the governor’s office, Virginia was rated the best state for business, the best managed state, and the best state to receive a public education. But even then, I knew that my work to make sure that every family – no matter their background – has the same shot that I did, was far from over.
That’s when I ran for the United States Senate, and won.
In the Senate, I helped spearhead the largest infrastructure and public lands investments in half a century, worked to significantly expand Virginia’s domestic manufacturing, and have fought to lower health care costs across the Commonwealth.
But I have to tell you, in my time in politics, there has been nothing as challenging, as bizarre, and as holy sugar as the last 18 months of the second Trump administration:
After Republicans passed their budget megabill last summer and let enhanced ACA subsidies expire, thousands of Virginians have lost or are at risk of losing their health coverage.
Trump’s obsession with losing the 2020 election is wasting taxpayer dollars and making all of us less safe. His FBI is ordering hundreds of analysts to investigate completely debunked claims about the 2020 election, instead of fighting serious crimes.
Gas prices have skyrocketed after Donald Trump launched a reckless, war-of-choice with Iran.
And the president has personally pocketed BILLIONS of dollars while in office, while working families struggle with the rising cost of living.
Wherever I go in Virginia, I hear from voters who are fed up with the chaos, corruption, and incompetence – and ready to elect leaders who will stand up to this administration and actually get stuff done for working families.
In Virginia, we can lead the way. We can hold this critical Senate seat, and we have the opportunity to flip multiple House races from red-to-blue.
I’m campaigning this year as I always have, by getting out there to talk to voters about what I’m doing to stand up to this nonsense, and what we can get done in the years ahead.
Thank you for being in this fight with me. Whether you’re able to donate your time by volunteering with Virginia Democrats or chip in a few bucks to help my campaign team reach the voters we need to win – please know I am deeply grateful for your support.
Now let’s go win this thing.
More soon,
Mark Warner