ALEXANDRIA, Va. — It was old home week on the presidential campaign trail in a Northern Virginia civic center Wednesday morning.

The state’s former senator, Republican John Warner, announced that he would be casting his presidential ballot for the Democratic ticket of Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine.

“You don’t pull up a quick text like national security for dummies,” Warner said. “It can’t be published.”

Basics, basics

Kaine, the current junior senator here, spent most of his own remarks recalling stories about Warner. Kaine said that he sought the former senator’s advice when deciding to run for the Senate himself.

The former Armed Services chairman’s endorsement of the Clinton-Kaine ticket shouldn’t be particularly surprising. He actually endorsed his Democratic successor, Sen. Mark Warner, over GOP challenger Ed Gillespie in 2014. Gillespie had the backing of national Republicans.

The younger Warner, who is of no relation to the longtime Commonwealth senator, made the introductions in a small event space at a community center not far from his home in Alexandria.

“All the reasons why I’m supporting Hillary were reinforced on Monday evening,” Mark Warner said in his introductions of Kaine and the senior Warner.

Kaine served as Mark Warner’s lieutenant governor, and later succeeded him as governor. 

History as a moderate

John Warner, a Navy veteran of World War II, served as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, a committee on which Clinton also served. He also served as secretary of the Navy in the Nixon administration.

“I am proud to have John’s support, and to know that someone with his decades of experience would trust me with the weighty responsibility of being commander in chief,” Clinton said in a statement. 

John Warner was a relatively moderate Republican senator during his tenure. He voted for the Brady Bill, which created a waiting period for purchases of handguns and instated a background check. 

The former senator was also one of only 10 Republican senators who voted against the charge of perjury against former President Bill Clinton during his impeachment trial. However, He did vote guilty on the charge of obstruction of justice.

Since leaving the Senate, Warner has occasionally backed Democrats. Besides his support of Mark Warner, he also donated to the unsuccessful 2014 Senate campaign of Democrat Michelle Nunn, the daughter of former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn.