Less than month before election, Warner calls for immigration reform 

Senator Mark Warner on Thursday toured B-Thrifty, a mega thrift store and marketplace in Woodbridge.

It was a campaign stop for the freshman Virginia senator who is seeking another term in Washington. The senator and former Virginia Governor touted his business experience as a co-founder the once mobile phone giant Nextel to a room full of business owners and entrepreneurs.

“In business, you get measured in every month and every year by the bottom line. In business, you have to find a way to get to yes. In politics, what makes me crazy is that there a lot of people who say no,” said Warner.

The Democrat told the more than 50 people in attendance that he strived to work with Republicans on each piece of his legislation; a trend he says is widely unpopular with both political parties in partisan Washington.

“If you start from the center and build out it’s a better way of getting things done than coming from the political extreme,” Warner added.

B-Thrifty is majority owned by Latinos who have worked to build a business of selling unwanted goods to a largely Latino customer base in Woodbridge. Warner used the opportunity to call for immigration reform that would make the U.S. more hospitable for Hispanic workers and families who come to the U.S.

The senator also addressed transportation issues that plague the region. He said it’s too soon to tell if the 495 Express Lanes and its counterpart 95 Express Lanes opening in December are working. Business leaders Wednesday urged him to find ways to get traffic congestion off U.S. 1, which runs parallel to I-95, as U.S. 1 backs up every time “someone sneezes on 95,” one event attendee told the senator.

Warner has 23 more days until voters go to the polls. He’s running against conservative Republican Ed Gillespie, who has worked as a former White House aide and communications consultant in Northern Virginia.