Mark Tate, co-owner of Middleburg's Coach Stop Restaurant, and conservative political columnist for the Eccentric, has announced that he is running for the Republican nomination for the State Senate seat for the 27th District, mostly likely against Warrenton Lawyer Jill Holtzman Vogel and incumbent Russ Potts.

Tate first entered politics at 24, running successfully for a seat on the Middleburg Town Council. He served three terms, including a stint as Vice Mayor, and has remained active in Republican politics in Virginia ever since.

Seven out of ten Loudoun County voters chose Tate over Russ Potts in the 2003 Republican Primary, which Potts won by just over 100 votes, with the help of significant cross-over voting by Democrats.

An outspoken conservative, Tate ran his first political campaign as an opponent of a proposed increase in Middleburg's meal tax. Opposition to big government and high taxes remains at the heart of his political ethic.

Tate believes that more State money for transportation projects should come from the General Fund rather than from sources traditionally "earmarked" for roads and related infrastructure. He also agrees with Democratic Governor Tim Kaine and Republican Delegate Bob Marshall that "land-use planning and road-building should be intimately related, and well thought out." He characterizes himself as a "controlled growth" rather than "slow-growth" or "no-growth" Republican.

He supported the Middleburg Town Council's recent agreements with Salamander Development, noting that the arrangement provided more control over development for the Council. Tate also believes the arrangement put development outside Town limits in the hands of a developer with absolutely nothing to be gained (and much to be lost) by alienating the town, its neighbors or destroying the ambience of the countryside.

Tate is "pro-life" and, though opposed to gay "marriage" draws a sharp distinction between religious sacraments and state laws governing inheritance and hospital visitation rights.

Tate has also taken a stand on evolution and "intelligent design", asserting that the latter deserved a place in the state's high school biology curricula.

He has nearly $40,000 in campaign funds left over from his 2003 battle against Potts, and almost $200,000 in hand total.

The State Election Commission recently called on Tate to file required financial reports due since the end of the 2003 campaign, which Tate says has now been done.

Russ Potts, denouncing Tate as "to the right of Attila the Hun" has declared that he beat him once, and can beat him again.

Tate says, "Funny, Russ agreed with me on most of the issues last time, and won with 100 Democratic votes. I think this campaign will be VERY interesting."