Virginia Politics Blog

Republican Corey A. Stewart, chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, is not running for Congress next year.

We know this because Stewart and three other Prince William Republicans just announced that they are supporting Keith S. Fimian, who is preparing for a rematch against Democrat Gerald E. Connolly next year. The others are: Supervisor Mike May and delegates L. Scott Lingamfelter and Robert G. "Bob" Marshall.

It's probably not a coincidence that Fimian is publicizing these endorsements today, the same week that Fairfax County Supervisor Pat S. Herrity said he is considering a run for the Republican nomination. If Herrity does get in, don't expect Fimian to step aside quietly.

Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell placed a call to the Senate Democratic Caucus today, which is holding meetings in Portsmouth in connection with the Senate finance committee retreat. McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin confirmed that McDonnell made the call this afternoon, as did Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw.

"He said he hoped we could cooperate and work together," Saslaw said. "He wished us a Happy Thanksgiving. It was all very general."

The Democratic-held Senate is the only piece of government in Richmond that could hold up McDonnell's agenda, given the Republicans 61-seat majority in the House of Delegates. The relationship between McDonnell and senate Democrats -- in particular their irascible leader Saslaw -- will be fascinating to watch. So far, everyone has made noises about working together in bipartisan fashion. We'll see how long that lasts.

Quite a number of folks in Richmond have speculated that Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell's campaign manager, Phil Cox, might become chief of staff in McDonnell's administration. After all, a number of people have noted that he is very much playing the role of McDonnell's chief of staff during the transition, acting as door-keeper for McDonnell and having an important hand in the paper flow of the transition office.

But no. We can confirm that Cox will not be joining the McDonnell administration but will instead become the executive director of McDonnell's new political action committee "Opportunity Virginia." Cox told our colleague Amy Gardner of his plans a few days ago. A political pro, running the PAC would allow Cox to keep his hand in McDonnell's political operation. It would also let him maintain his current residence in Northern Virginia -- chief of staff would require a move to Richmond.

Of all the many rumors flying around Richmond at the moment, here's one we can actually put to rest: House Speaker Bill Howell plans to honor current rules of proportional representation as he reorganizes House committees in the wake of the Nov. 3 election results.

That means Howell will add one Republican to each committee, in line with the GOP caucus' growth from 55 to 61 members. He will not be adding two Republicans, as has been widely rumored, according to Howell chief of staff Paul Nardo.

"The speaker is committed to proportional seating and will continue to abide by his commitment to fairness to all members through proportional seating in the chamber and on the committees," Nardo said.

Gov. Mark Warner had "One Virginia." Gov. Tim Kaine had "Moving Virginia Forward." Now it looks like Gov. Bob McDonnell will have "Opportunity Virginia," a committee established to advance McDonnell's political goals, including by raising money and contributing to other Republican office seekers.

Via the Virginia Public Access Project comes word that the paperwork organizing the new PAC was filed with the State Board of Elections Thursday, with McDonnell's campaign office listed as the committee's address and McDonnell staffer Jane Wortham listed as treasurer. According to the form, the committee could take part in statewide, local and General Assembly elections.

"Opportunity Virginia will enable the governor-elect to assist other candidates and leaders who share his positive vision for creating jobs, keeping taxes low and providing new opportunities for all citizens," McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin said.

Gov. Tim Kaine's office reports that it has now received a copy of a letter from Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, indicating that he will resign from the state Senate on Jan. 12, in preparation for his inauguration as state attorney general Jan. 16.

Kaine plans to call the special election to fill Cuccinelli's Fairfax County seat for that same day, said Kaine spokesman Gordon Hickey.

Cuccinelli, meanwhile, met with the entire staff of the attorney general's office this week, telling attorneys and others in a 15-minute speech that he respects their work and looks forward to working with them. All employees of the AG's office formally work at the pleasure of the sitting attorney general. It is not yet clear how many of the office's staff Cuccinelli plans to keep on.

Democratic Del. David Marsden has formally announced he will seek the senate seat soon-to-be vacated by the Ken Cuccinelli, who was elected attorney general Nov. 3. Democrats had made clear that they would to avoid any kind of contested nomination process.

Marsden had said the party was funding a poll of several likely candidates and each contender had agreed to back the candidate that the poll indicated was most likely to be successful. He said at the time that he fully expected to be come out on top in the process, and it looks like he has done so.

""Let's face it: government is not working like it should for regular people and our small businesses. We are in the midst of a serious economic downturn and we need to focus on creating jobs, helping regular people and small businesses, and growing our economy," Marsden said in a statement announcing his candidacy.

Marsden currently lives in an adjoining senate district and will have to move into Cuccinelli's 37th district to run for the office. He said recently that, as a Fairfax county resident for more than 50 years, he felt confident that he understood the needs of residents in both senate districts.

Marsden's selection will not be uniformly popular. A former Republican who was a longtime aide to Republican Del. Jim Dillard, Marsden was appointed to top positions in the state Department of Juvenile Justice under Republican Gov. Jim Gilmore (he remained on under Democratic Gov. Mark Warner.) His selection has already been angrily denounced by activist Ben Tribbett, who has a long personal history with Marsden that includes a brief time spent as a rival for the Democratic nomination for Marsden's House of Delegate's seat.

The Republicans meanwhile have yet to announce what process they will use to choose between their three confirmed candidates for the seat, Marianne Horinko, Steve Hunt and Will Nance.

Gov. Tim Kaine will set the date for the special election, but he can only do so after Cuccinelli formally submits a letter indicating the date of his resignation from the senate. No word yet on when Cuccinelli might do so.

Despite what a lot of politicos think, Levar Stoney, former executive director of the Democratic Party of Virginia, will not be returning to the party following his stint as political director for Creigh Deeds's gubernatorial campaign.

Stoney said he originally took a leave of absence in June and had every intention of returning, but changed his mind in the fall. He said he is exploring other opportunities.

Party Chairman Dick Cranwell has alerted state Democrats that the party's interim leader, Leigh Anne Collier, will stay on as director. Collier had previously served as deputy executive director for finance and operations.

Also not returning to the party: communications director Jared Leopold, who served as Deeds's spokesman during the general election.

Speaking of Cranwell, he said today that he has every intention of staying on as chairman until his term ends in 2013, despite rumors that he may leave after a bruising election for Democrats. Cranwell, first elected in 2005, said no one has asked that he resign. "I have no plans on stepping down,'' he said.

There are more signs that presidential buzz is going to follow Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell, probably right up until the nomination process gets going in 2012. Nate Silver, the statistician-pollster who founded the Web site fivethirtyeight.com was on Keith Olbermann's show on MSNBC last night, assessing the chances of a Sarah Palin presidential run in four years.

But Silver suggested repeatedly that the GOP may find better luck with a candidate who doesn't feel like a has-been to voters. Someone like ... Bob McDonnell, said Silver.

"If you had someone who was a fresher face, someone like a Bob McDonnell in Virginia, maybe, if he were ready to run in 2012, that might give Palin some worry," Silver told the show's substitute host Lawrence O'Donnell.

Later, he said, "If they're smart, they will push someone like a [John] Thune or a McDonnell. I mean, these people haven't necessarily been in the national spotlight. They could have some learning curve, like Palin did. But I'd be looking for some outside-the-box alternatives.

Is this a serious notion? Certainly there are no signs at the moment. McDonnell has described the idea as "a pipe dream down the road." But the fact that his name -- probably unknown to national audiences just a couple of weeks ago -- has entered the lists of those regularly mentioned for 2012 is a sign of just how far and fast his star his risen.

Watch the appearance here. McDonnell's name comes up at about the 3:16 and 4:40 marks.

The Virginia Public Access Project continues to do slicing and dicing of election results, and a lot of what they're coming up with continues to be fascinating.

Take a look at these maps, for instance, that show how Republican Bob McDonnell and Democrat Creigh Deeds fared in each of Virginia's 100 House of Delegates districts and its 40 state senate districts. Not surprisingly, given the margin of the landslide. McDonnell beat Deeds in 75 House districts and 29 Senate districts.

Interestingly, McDonnell romped in the two Senate districts that will soon have special elections because of the Nov. 3 results. In Virginia Beach's 8th District, which Democrats have essentially conceded, McDonnell got 66.6 percent of the vote. But in the 37th district in Fairfax, sure to be hotly contested, he also did well -- capturing 56.8 percent of the votes to Deeds's 43 percent.

Where did McDonnell do best? In Southwest Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley, but also the Richmond suburbs of Hanover and Powhatan counties. Deeds did best in Richmond, Hampton, Norfolk and Arlington.