CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va (CBS19 NEWS) -- Virginia’s U.S Senate race between Republican Daniel Gade and Democratic Senator Mark Warner is a closely watched race the year. 

Warner says there are key differences between him and his opponent. 

"I’m very proud of working with the Treasury Secretary and others to make the first CARES package. Over $2 trillion and I really think it kept a lot of small businesses alive. It helped people who were unemployed, it helped our hospitals," he said.

"The Senate should be back in session now, not trying to rush through a Supreme Court nominee but providing additional support for small businesses, schools to open in a safe way and testing PPE," Warner added. "The coronavirus and how we approach it is really one of the biggest differences between me and my opponent. My opponent has said wearing masks is a sign of tyranny. I think wearing masks is a sign of respect. We have to get our economy reopen and get the virus understand control."

There’s been a lot of social unrest across the country, after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Warner says that chokeholds and no-knock warrants should be banned.

"I think we need to acknowledge there needs to be police reform. I proud to work with Senator Kamala Harris on the Justice in Policing Act. We need to get a vote on that in the Senate That law would ban chokeholds, no-knock warrants and cases like that in Breonna Taylor and George Floyd could be alive," Warner said. "I think we need to acknowledge that our country is dealing with systemic racism. Cops that do bad things hurt all of law enforcement and will bring about reinforcement of community policing that I think shows that you got to have trust between the community and law enforcement."

He also says people with pre-existing conditions should be protected and have adequate healthcare.

"The Affordable Care Act or 'Obama Care,' it wasn’t perfect, but it got 20 million Americans health care coverage. With the expansion of Medicaid, 400,000 Virginians got health care coverage that they would not have had and 300,000 Virginians including my daughter, who has a pre-existing condition," Warner said. "She has diabetes, got the kind of coverage. You can’t have the insurance company discriminate against you.  I think the ACA needs to be improved on, not gotten rid of. This is an area where there’s a huge difference between my opponent and I. He opposes the ACA, he criticizes me constantly for it."

"I think Virginia residents know me. They know my record as governor when Virginia was able to earn the recognition of being the best-managed state and the best state for business," he added. "They know I’ve had a record. When I was governor, I was a Democrat with a 2-1 legislature and we got things done bipartisan."

Voters can cast their ballots on Election Day on Nov. 3 or mail in their ballots.