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(CNN) - Sen. John Warner was admitted to a Washington area hospital Monday for observation after experiencing the return of an irregular heart beat.

According to a statement released by the Virginia Republican's Senate office, Warner experienced a return of atrial fibrillation, a condition he was first treated for last fall. He is currently pursuing a re-evaluation after consulting with his doctors.

Warner, 80, announced last summer he would not seek re-election for a sixth Senate term.

Former Virginia Gov. Gilmore participating in a Republican presidential debate prior to dropping his White House bid.

WASHINGTON – (CNN) Jim Gilmore officially jumped into the race for the Senate Monday.

The former Republican Governor of Virginia announced in an e-mail and on the Internet that he’s a candidate for the seat of retiring Senator John Warner, a long time Republican Senator from Virginia who announced earlier this year that he’ll retire at the end of his term rather than run for re-election next year.

"America has a lot of work to do and doesn't have the right leaders to do it," says Gilmore in his announcement, adding that "I'm running for the United State Senate from Virginia because I want to be one of those leaders who call on the spirit that is common in all of us, and use it to restore our country for the benefit of our people and in the eyes of the world."

Gilmore’s announcement sets up an expected high profile contest between two former Virginia governors. Democrat Mark Warner, who succeeded Gilmore at the State House in Richmond, jumped into the race for the senate seat earlier this year. Warner is not related to the retiring senator.

Besides being former Virginia governors, Mark Warner and John Gilmore have something else in common: White House aspirations.

Mark Warner contemplated a presidential bid last year before deciding against it. Gilmore jumped into the race for the White House late last year before dropping out in July.

–CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser

Davis announced Thursday he will not run for retiring Virginia Sen. John Warner's seat.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Rep. Tom Davis said Thursday he will not run for the open Senate seat in Virginia next year.

The Republican congressman from Northern Virginia had been considering a bid to succeed his friend, retiring Sen. John Warner, who announced this summer that he would not run for re-election in 2008.

With Davis out, the race to succeed Warner appears to be a battle of two former Virginia governors, Democrat Mark Warner, no relation, and Republican Jim Gilmore.

Warner announced his intentions last month and has raised over a million dollars. He is still very popular with Virginia voters and early polling puts him ahead of Gilmore in a potential head to head match up. National Democrats are betting Warner can win back the Republican held seat and help the party expand its current slim 51 to 49 majority in the Senate.

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Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. John Warner of Virginia successfully underwent a non-surgical procedure Wednesday to maintain proper heart rate and rhythm, his office said.

"Senator Warner called his office this morning around 11:30 a.m. to say he is doing very well," his office said in a written statement. "He advised his staff that he passed this morning's procedure 'with flying colors' and that 'no one is to go home early, as we all have work to do.'"

In non-surgical ablation, a catheter is snaked from an artery in the groin into the heart. Then, a machine directs laser or microwave energy into the heart muscle producing the abnormal rhythm, causing it to scar and disrupting the abnormal rhythm's electrical pathway.

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Sen. John Warner was hospitalized Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Influential Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia was hospitalized Tuesday with a heart condition, according to a statement from the senator's office.

Doctors at Inova Fairfax Hospital performed a procedure to correct atrial fibrillation, the statement said, and a follow-up, routine procedure is scheduled for Wednesday.

"His doctors fully anticipate that Senator Warner will be home this weekend and back to work next week," the statement said.

The statement said Warner, 80, "handled planned appointments" at his office Tuesday morning, checking in with the Capitol Physician's Office mid-morning. He returned to his office for more meetings after that, and left in the afternoon for an appointment at the hospital.

Atrial fibrillation is a heart rhythm disorder that usually involves a rapid heart rate.

Warner said last month he would not seek re-election in 2008.