WASHINGTON (WAVY/AP) — Scott Taylor, a former U.S. Representative for Virginia’s 2nd congressional district, says he plans to run for Mark Warner’s seat in the U.S. Senate.
Taylor made the announcement Monday morning on Facebook by sharing a link to his campaign website. The website’s homepage includes a video announcement for the campaign.
In the video, Taylor said, ” I get it, you don’t like politics. You don’t trust politicians. Hell, I don’t trust a lot of them, but this is the medium by which we control our destiny. This is where we write the story of all of us.”
Video: Scott Taylor announces campaign for Senate
The former Navy SEAL lost the 2nd congressional district in a harder-fought battle with Democrat Elaine Luria last November.
“People are coming up to me, almost every day, around our area, and asking me to do it again and run again,” Taylor told 10 on Your Side. “Just doing some self-reflection, thinking about that and listening to their voices, I just realized personally that I’m not done. I’m not done serving. I like to help people, solve problems, get things done.”
Warner is a former Virginia governor and was first elected to the Senate in 2008. He’s the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee and has accused President Donald Trump of disrespecting U.S. allies and ingratiating himself with adversaries.
Taylor said on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” on Monday “we have a leadership crisis in Virginia” and “we need a fresh start in the Senate.”
Taylor’s failed re-election campaign is still being investigated by a special prosecutor who has charged a campaign aide with false statements and election fraud. Taylor has maintained that he was aware of his staffers’ effort to get Shaun Brown on the ballot, but knew nothing of any wrongdoing.
Prosecutor Donald Caldwell said in May that “what actually happened within the campaign headquarters is still a subject of investigation due primarily to the lack of cooperation of key individuals with the (Virginia State Police) investigator.”