“The Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Virginia, a decorated Navy veteran, has made repeated references to becoming disabled after he was ‘blown up’ in combat, and has stressed that he has scars from his military service while Democratic incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine got rich from the safety of Capitol Hill,” USA Today reports.

“Yet the Navy service record for Hung Cao, who won the GOP primary in June, does not show a Purple Heart award, the commendation given to troops who have suffered wounds from ‘direct or indirect result of enemy action’ that required medical attention. Nor does his record indicate that he received the Navy’s Combat Action Ribbon, which requires that a sailor ‘must have rendered satisfactory performance under enemy fire while actively participating in ground or surface combat engagement.’”

“Grappling with an eight-year decision at age 64 is different than at age 53 or 42. It’s just a different calculation.”

— Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), quoted by Politico, on deciding to run for re-election in 2024.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) has announced he will run for a third term in the Senate.

Washington Post: “Democrats had launched a full-court press in recent weeks to persuade Kaine to seek reelection as he considered his plans — and as Democrats looked ahead to numerous tough races in 2024, with control in the Senate on the line. A Kaine retirement could have created a more viable opening for Republicans in a state Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) flipped red in 2021.”

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) “will announce his long-awaited decision tomorrow on whether to seek re-election in 2024,” Punchbowl News reports.

“We’re told there’s a significant possibility that he opts against a third term. This would put yet another Senate seat in play for Republicans, who already had a highly favorable 2024 map.”

“If Kaine retires, it would open the door for several potential Democratic candidates, including Virginia Reps. Abigail Spanberger and Jennifer Wexton and former Rep. Elaine Luria.”

“On the GOP side, Gov. Glenn Youngkin could jump into the race regardless of what Kaine announces tomorrow.”

A new University of Mary Washington poll in Virginia shows Sen. Tim Kaine (D) leading challenger Corey Stewart (R) by a wide margin, 49% to 30%.

Key finding: “Although 73% of Republican respondents said they’d vote for Stewart, 15% of Republicans favored Kaine — a reflection of the deep divisions among Virginia Republicans over Stewart.”

Virginia U.S. Senate candidate Corey Stewart (R) dismissed protesting NFL players as “thugs” who were “beating up their girlfriends and their wives,” CNN reports.

Said Stewart: “You know, they’ve got, you know, children all over the place that they don’t pay attention to, don’t father, with many different women, they are womanizers. These are not people that we should have our sons, or any of our children look up to. We need to have our children look up to real role models.”

A new Wilder School/VCU poll in Virginia finds Sen. Tim Kaine (D) crushing challenger Corey Stewart (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 49% to 26%, with Libertarian Matt Waters at 5% and another 20% still undecided.

Key finding: “While Virginians do not register by party, the survey found that a third of self-described Republicans or Republican-leaning voters were not yet backing Stewart — with 20% undecided, 10% supporting Waters and 3% backing Kaine.”

Virginia U.S. Senate candidate Corey Stewart (R) praised in a speech last year Virginia’s decision in 1861 to secede from the Union, putting it on par with rebellions during the American Revolution and today, CNN reports.

Said Stewart: “This is the state of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and James Monroe. It’s a state of the founders. It’s the state of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.”

He added: “But it’s also the state of Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson, and J.E.B. Stuart. Because, at the base of it, Virginians, we think for ourselves. And if the established order is wrong, we rebel. We did that in the Revolution, we did it in the Civil War, and we’re doing it today. We’re doing it today because they’re trying to rob us of everything that we hold dear: our history, our heritage, our culture.”

“Corey Stewart’s Republican nomination for U.S. Senate from Virginia has prompted an identity crisis within the state GOP, with some donors and activists saying they are so turned off, they are willing to vote for his Democratic opponent, Sen. Tim Kaine,” the Washington Post reports.

“Stewart, chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, catapulted to the U.S. Senate nomination — and nearly won the gubernatorial primary last year — by celebrating guns and Confederate statues, lambasting illegal immigrants, and associating with white nationalist Jason Kessler and Paul Nehlen, a Wisconsin candidate barred from Twitter because of anti-Semitic and racist posts.”

A new Quinnipiac poll in Virginia finds Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) leading challenger Corey Stewart (R) by a wide margin, 54% to 36%.

Also interesting: “Only 32% of Virginia voters have a favorable opinion of the Republican Party, while 59% have an unfavorable opinion. The Democratic Party gets a divided 46% to 45% favorability rating.”

Said pollster Peter Brown: “Virginia, which was once a solidly red state, has made the full transition to a blue bastion. Voters in the Old Dominion are happy with the way things are going in their state and they give their statewide Democratic office-holders good approval ratings.”

Sen. Corey Gardner (R-CO), the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told CNN the group has no plans to endorse Corey Stewart (R), the party’s U.S. Senate nominee in Virginia.

Said Gardner: “We have a big map, right now we are focused on Florida, North Dakota, Missouri, Indiana. I don’t see Virginia in it.”

Corey Stewart (R) won the Republican nomination to face Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) in November after fighting off two challengers, the Washington Post reports.

“Stewart, who nearly won the GOP nomination for Virginia governor last year, has gained notoriety for his embrace of the Confederate flag, hard line against illegal immigrants and past association with men who consider themselves white nationalists.”

“He has promised a ‘vicious’ campaign against Kaine, who is popular in the state and is seeking a second term.”