Former Va. Gov. Gilmore Secures Senate GOP Nomination Despite Efforts Of Antiabortion Coalition

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 04 Jun 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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Former Virginia Gov. James Gilmore (R) on Saturday secured the Republican nomination for a U.S. Senate seat over Virginia Del. Robert Marshall (R) by 70 votes out of 10,378 votes cast at the party's state convention, the Washington Post reports. According to the Post, Gilmore nearly lost the nomination because of the efforts of a coalition of antiabortion advocates and other groups who supported Marshall. During his campaign, Marshall criticized Gilmore's support for abortion rights until the eighth week of pregnancy (Craig/Kumar, Washington Post, 6/1).

Marshall has called himself the "authentic pro-life" candidate and has said that people opposed to abortion rights "will sit on their hands" if Gilmore is the Republican nominee because of Gilmore's view on the issue. Gilmore has said that as governor, he helped pass a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions, enacted a statewide ban on so-called "partial-birth" abortion and pushed legislation requiring minors seeking abortions to notify their parents (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 4/1).

After losing the primary election, Marshall told supporters it will be important that Gilmore defeat the likely Democratic nominee for the seat, former Gov. Mark Warner (D), in the November election (Washington Post, 6/1). However, Marshall said Monday that he probably will not endorse Gilmore unless Gilmore promises to advocate a total ban on abortion (Craig, Washington Post, 6/3). Marshall told his supporters that the Republican Party "needs to be united behind principled, pro-life, real pro-life (leaders) who respect the rights of all people, old and young" (Washington Post, 6/1).

Gilmore spokesperson Ana Gamonal said that Gilmore's campaign will tell conservative voters that he signed "every single pro-family, pro-life legislation that came to his desk" (Washington Post, 6/3). Gilmore and Mark Warner are running for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. John Warner (R) (Washington Post, 6/1).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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