CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Two of the things Bert Mizusawa came to understand during his time serving in the military were the importance of strong borders and the fact that war – while it carries a cost – is sometimes necessary for the long-term good.

“If you don’t have a border, you don’t have a nation,” Mizusawa said Monday during a 30-minute interview with Cville Right Now. “I’ve served on the Iraq-Iran border, the Afghanistan-Iran border, on the Korean DMZ, on the Iron Curtain during the Cold War, in Germany. And so I understand, No. 1, the importance of borders.”

Mizusawa won the Republican nomination and is challenging incumbent Democrat Mark Warner for one of Virginia’s Senate seats in the upcoming November midterm elections. A retired major general in the U.S. Army, Mizusawa graduated from West Point and earned a law degree from Harvard. 

He spent 36 years in the Army before moving into civilian life, working in financial law and technology security. He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for a seat in the House of Representatives in 2010, and now, 16 years later, is attempting to deny Warner a fourth term.

“I spent 40 years in uniform, taking care of other countries, protecting their borders, their liberties, even ensuring that it was one person, one vote,” Mizusawa said. “I come home and I see what the left is trying to do in our nation. And so I didn’t want to stand by and watch it happen.”

Mizusawa said affordability issues are chief among his concerns in this campaign. He would like to see the U.S. expand its use of nuclear power, calling it “cheaper, more reliable, and it’s actually safer.”

He said he would like to get rid of the capital gains tax on the sale of primary homes, something he said would encourage older Americans to sell their homes and downsize.

“People will, if they can avoid the tax, they’ll sell their houses, and then we can bring more houses online for our younger generation,” he said. “So they can get started with their own part of the American dream.”

He said there is plenty of land and space in Virginia to build data centers, but that individual localities should have the power to refuse becoming sites for those facilities. 

Mizusawa has no issues with Trump entering the U.S. into the war in Iran without first getting congressional approval. 

“When you look at what’s in the Constitution, you do have a lot of enumerated powers for the Congress,” he said. “For the president, you only have one listed – that he’s the commander in chief of the armed forces. But it doesn’t really place any restrictions on his ability to deploy the armed forces. Obviously, if you can get the legislative branch on board, it makes it more palatable politically.”

He also expressed confidence that Trump had made a sound decision entering into the conflict. He defended previous comments that the rising gas prices Americans are experiencing, in part because of the war, are a “small price to pay.”

“I would rather pay a smaller price today, and I’ve been attacked on saying that high gas prices are a smaller price, but relative to Iran obtaining a nuclear capability and being able to deploy it,” Mizusawa said. “We have to make tough decisions sometimes to preempt something that might happen in the future without being able to prove that it will be a certainty in the future.”

Indeed, critics and Warner himself have criticized that position, using it to paint Mizusawa as out of touch with average Virginians struggling with affordability issues. Warner also claimed Mizusawa supports Trump pursuing an unconstitutional third term in office.

Mizusawa called that claim by Warner “incorrect.” He said he was explaining, during a primary debate, that there are legal avenues for a president to serve more than two terms.

“I basically was making a legal point to counter people that said that the Constitution forbade a third term for any president,” he said.

Asked specifically if he supports the idea of Trump serving a third term, Mizusawa said, “I don’t think that’s relevant right now, and I don’t think it will happen, and so the answer is, ‘No.’ But, you know, there’s more than one way to serve a third term. And at this point, I just don’t appreciate the fact that they’re willing to mischaracterize something I said.”

Mizusawa would like the opportunity to confront Warner and these claims in a debate, but so far, Mizusawa said the Democratic incumbent has declined multiple debate invitations. Friday, during a visit to the Charlottesville area, Warner said his schedule as a sitting senator did not afford him time to debate.

“I’m desperately trying to get an A.I. safety regime, and that is my foremost topic,” Warner said.

Mizusawa said that shouldn’t stop Warner from debating.

“I think it’s a disservice to his constituents that, so far, he’s refused the debate,” Mizusawa said. “The reason why he’s refusing is because he’s afraid he’ll make a mistake…. I’m going to make mistakes too. I can guarantee you I would walk off of a debate stage saying, ‘I wish I would have said that differently,’ and I’m not going to be happy with it. You know, we all make mistakes. We’re all human. He should not be afraid of making a mistake. I think it’s more important to present to Virginians the choice of a senator.”