Photos: Thune Stumps for Republicans in Springfield

U.S. Sen. John Thune campaigned for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Virginia candidates Friday during a stop at the Republican “Victory Center” in Springfield.

Thune, of South Dakota, stumped for U.S. Senate candidate George Allen, who faces Tim Kaine in the general election, and 8th Congressional District Republican Patrick Murray, who is running against incumbent Democrat Congressman Jim Moran.

“Virginia is ground zero in this presidential campaign and in all these other campaigns up and down the ballot this year,” Thune told volunteers and supporters. “It’s going to be critical that we get the vote out.”

He added: “We need to change direction for this country, and the only way we’re going to do that is to elect somebody at the presidential level that knows how to lead this country, knows how to fix the economy, knows how to put Americans back to work.”

Thune is the chairman of the Republican Senatorial Conference.