On Thursday, we told you about the Republicans interested in the soon to be vacated senate seat of attorney general-elect Ken Cuccinelli. Now some news on the Democrats.

Janet Oleszek, the former Fairfax School Board member who challenged Cuccinelli for the seat in 2007, said this morning that Democratic leadership has asked her not to run for the seat and, in the interest of party unity, she has agreed. She didn't sound terribly happy about it but said she is a loyal Democrat who would not challenge the wishes of her party's top dogs.

"I actually think I am the best candidate for this seat, having won in that district for School Board handily, having come within 101 votes to winning in 2007," she said. "I've been working very hard for this. But in the interest of solidarity, I have to step aside so we can unite behind their choice."

And who is their choice? Oleszek said she was uncertain, but here's one possibility: Del. David Marsden, who was just reelected Tuesday and whose district includes 10 of the senate seat's 14 precincts. He said Friday that he's interested in the seat and will make a final decision about whether to seek it next week.

As we reported earlier, Gov. Tim Kaine announced today that he will resume a teaching career in law and leadership at the University of Richmond after the end of his term in January.

Kaine accepted a joint appointment in the university's law school and Jepson School of Leadership Studies. He will also have additional responsibilities in advancing the university's strategic plan, The Richmond Promise.

"I have always been a believer in the power of education, and I am thrilled to be rejoining the faculty of the University of Richmond this coming semester," Kaine. "I look forward to contributing to the next generation of legal scholars and leaders, while helping the University of Richmond advance The Richmond Promise."

Kaine, a Harvard law graduate who served as mayor of Richmond and lieutenant governor of Virginia, previously taught law at the private university, including courses in professional responsibility.

"It is hard to imagine anyone better equipped than Gov. Kaine to help train the next generation of lawyers for those roles,'' said Law Dean John Douglass. "He offers a breadth of experience in government and politics that will bring to life our students' exploration of executive decision-making, legislative process and public policy issues that shape the formation and interpretation of law."

The governor's appointment is a part-time term appointment without tenure. He will teach one course a semester. His first course will be offered at the Jepson School, during the spring semester. He will teach at the law school next fall.

Kaine made the announcement at the university, where he was joined by the school's president Edward Ayers.

Read the president's announcement to faculty below:

Ken Cuccinelli, who was elected the state's new attorney general Tuesday, announced today that his transition will be led by a pair of former attorneys general -- Democrat Andrew Miller and Republican Richard Cullen -- along with former state GOP chairman Pat McSweeney.

Miller who ran for governor and U.S. Senate in the 1970s is a lawyer in Washington.

Cullen completed Jim Gilmore's term as attorney general when he resigned to run for governor and now heads the McGuire Woods law firm in Richmond. He is close to Governor-elect Bob McDonnell.

McSweeney in a Richmond lawyer who challenged the constitutionality of a proposed transportation sales-tax referendum and the state's 2007 landmark transportation plan, including its high fees for egregious driving offenses.

Republican Bernie McNamee was named transition director. McNamee is Cullen's law partner and a lobbyist who worked for former attorney general Jerry Kilgore and former Gov. George Allen.

Virginia Republicans are eager to hold on to the soon-to-be open seats in the state Senate.

Sen. Ken Cuccinelli from Fairfax County was elected the state's attorney general and Sen. Ken Stolle was elected Virginia Beach's new sheriff. Stolle's seat will likely stay in GOP hands but Democrats thinks they can pick up the increasingly left-leaning district held by Cuccinelli. He is the only remaining Republican senator in Northen Virginia.

Three Republicans are already running -- Marianne Horinko, a former George W. Bush appointee who runs a consulting firm, Steve Hunt, a former member of the Fairfax County School Board, and Will Nance, executive director of Greenspring Retirement Community. Their Websites went live after Tuesday's election.

Democrats who have been talked about for the seat include Dels. David L. Bulova and Dave W. Marsden (D-Fairfax) and Janet Oleszek, a former school board member who ran against Cuccinelli in 2007.

Gov. Tim Kaine has yet to call a special election to fill either seat.

Democrats hold a one-seat advantage in the state Senate, and Republicans are talking about whether the incoming governor Bob McDonnell would try to lure a couple of Democrats in GOP-leaning districts into his administration, paving the way to switch control of the chamber. McDonnell sidestepped questions about that possibility this week.

Gov. Tim Kaine will announce today that he is joining the faculty at the University of Richmond after he leaves office in January, sources close to the governor say.

Kaine will teach two classes -- one at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies and one at the university's law school. He previously taught an ethics class at the law school. He will teach one class a semester.

Kaine will also begin serving full time as chairman of the Democratic National Committee after Republican Bob McDonnell is sworn in as governor.

White House officials and the governor said yesterday that Kaine will continue to serve as DNC chairman despite gubernatorial losses for his party Tuesday in Virginia and New Jersey.

Kaine held a news conference yesterday in which he talked about returning home to his family's previous house in the Ginter Park section of Richmond.

Governor-elect Bob McDonnell announced his transition team at a packed news conference this afternoon at the State Capitol in Richmond.

The five co-chairmen will be: Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling; longtime friend Attorney General Bill Mims; Tom Farrell, a high school classmate and president of Dominion Power; Bobbie Kilberg, president of the Northern Virginia Technology Council; and Kay Cole James, who served in George Allen's and George W. Bush's administrations.

Kilberg and James were not at the press conference, but Kilberg quickly released a statement saying she was delighted to participate. "The Governor-Elect clearly recognizes the importance of the technology industry to the economic growth of the Commonwealth and we look forward to working with him, his staff, and the incoming administration," she said.

Campaign manager Phil Cox will serve as McDonnell's transition director. Tucker Martin will serve as director of communications -- a job he held during the campaign.

McDonnell was laughing off questions today about a future vice presidential run, even as he fielded calls from President Obama, national Republicans leaders and TV networks clamoring for interviews. He also received calls from U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb and Valerie Jarrett, a senior advisor and assistant to the president for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Obama administration.

His wife, Maureen, received a call from Virginia's First Lady, Anne Holton, who took her and four of the McDonnell's children on a tour of the Executive Mansion, this afternoon.

McDonnell is now being protected by State Police, who attended the press conference.

View Kaine's Travel Adventures in a larger map. KEY: Blue markers are DNC trips, red markers are official state trips, and purple markers included a mix of both or are unclear at this time.

Gov. Tim Kaine, who serves as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, spent nearly half the days in October out of state, including 11 weekdays.

Kaine spent all or part of 14 days outside Virginia, taking trips to five other states and eight trips to Washington.

Kaine's office released his travels for October in keeping with his pledge to do so at the end of each month, which was made following pressure by the media and others to disclose his whereabouts. This month, however, his office waited a few extra days and released the information on Election Day when his schedule would likely be overhadowed by other news. Kaine's spokesman Gordon Hickey said the schedule was "released in error" Tuesday because he forgot to release it Monday.

His out-of-state travel included trips to Chicago and Boston (Thurs. Oct. 15 -Fri. Oct. 16),
New York (Tues. Oct. 20-Wed. Oct. 21), Tallahassee and Miami (Fri. Oct. 23-Sat. Oct. 24), New Jersey (Thurs. Oct. 29-Fri. Oct. 30). He also reported spending part of five weekdays and two weekends in Washington.

Much of the out-of-state travel was likely for DNC business, but may have been in his role as governor or for both jobs. The travel log does not indicate the purpose of the trips, but the New Jersey trip was primarily to campaign for Gov. Jon Corzine, who was in a tough three-way race for re-election.

In June, Kaine traveled for the DNC half of the days. In July, he traveled to eight other states, while spending part of four days in Washington that month. Kaine significantly limited his out-of-state travel in August, traveling to five states and spending only part of one day in Washington. But his travel increased in September. He reported spending all or part of 12 days out-of-state that month, including five trips to Washington.

See October's full schedule below:

A morning-after press conference by Gov. Tim Kaine that was billed to be a discussion on transition plans was dominated by postmortem election analysis, as Kaine sought to explain the shellacking Democrats took Tuesday while attempting to shield the president from blame.

Asked whether Obama was a factor, Kaine said Obama was not on the minds of voters, but wondered why the president's popularity hadn't been more of a help. ... Huh?

Here it is in his own words:

"Voters said the races were decided on local issues, that the president was not really a factor in the overwhelming majority of voters' choices," said Kaine, citing exit poll data.

But...

"With 55 percent of independents nationally saying they approve of the job President Obama is doing, the fact that independent voters in Virginia in the race yesterday supported governor-elect McDonnell by a strong margin is something that we have to assess, and I don't really have an answer for that right now."

Kaine offered some explanations for R. Creigh Deeds's loss, saying Deeds was an underdog from the start. He said McDonnell's tenure in the attorney general's office for four years helped him with name recognition and with raising money.

"When Creigh won the surprise primary in June, it was a great win, but I don't think that there was much doubt that Creigh was considered the underdog because he was having to refill his coffers beginning in late June and he was running against a guy that beat him four years ago," Kaine said.

He went on to note the apparent consistent reaction Virginians have against the party in the White House.

"Also, historically, Virginia and Virginia voters have this quirk...the party that has the White House loses the Virginia governorship."

We just heard that President Obama called Republican Bob McDonnell, who won a landslide victory over Democrat Creigh Deeds last night in Virginia's governor race.

The two men spoke for about 10 minutes in what McDonnell's campaign called a "very friendly conversation."

Obama told McDonnell: "The first thing you need to do is thank your wife!"

The two also talked about their shared support for charter schools and McDonnell's support of Obama's "Race to the Top" program -- a federal grant for schools committed to closing achievement gaps and getting more students into college. McDonnell frequently parised those programs on the campaign trail.

McDonnell is spending the morning at the Richmond Marriott with his wife, Maureen, five children and assorted other family members. He declined multiple requests to appear on news shows today. He will hold a 2 p.m. press conference at the state Capitol.

Gov. Tim Kaine also called McDonnell this morning. McDonnell's staff has already begun moving into the state-funded transition office off of Capitol Square in Richmond.