NORFOLK, Va. — Leading up to the November midterm election, we are taking a look back at two more Virginia elections this week.
Starting in 1984, when Ronald Reagan won re-election for president in a landslide.
In Virginia, there was a history-making race for a U.S. Senate seat that year.
Former State Delegate Edie Harrison became the first woman to be nominated by a major political party for Senate.
But the outspoken feminist from Norfolk was up against a Republican juggernaut. Incumbent John Warner would go on to win re-election to a second term, taking 70% of the vote.
"I'm proud of the campaign we waged, and we got our message to the people," Warner said during a 13News Now interview in 1984.
Warner would hold that seat in the U.S. Senate for five consecutive terms, gaining respect from both sides of the aisle for his moderate approach to conservative politics.
In fact, after announcing his retirement in 2007, Warner endorsed a Democrat as his successor a year later for the 2008 election.
In 2008, Barack Obama was elected the first Black commander in chief as voters showed up in record numbers.
The Senate seat in Virginia vacated by John Warner would be won by another Warner of no relation; Mark Warner became the first Democrat to take the seat since 1966, topping Republican Jim Gilmore with 65% of the vote.
It was also the first time since 1964 that a state voted for both a Democratic president and senate candidate in the same election.
