Fairfax County has scrapped together enough signatures of landowners to create a special tax district, the "missing piece" in the public-funding plan for 23 miles of Metro stations from Reston to Dulles International Airport and beyond, officials said Thursday.

An announcement is scheduled for Friday.

"I'm delighted. This brings us another step closer to having stations in the Herndon-Reston area as part of rail to Dulles," said Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova (D).

The Western Alliance for Rail to Dulles, a nonprofit group made up of Fairfax landowners, has worked to collect a 51 percent majority of affected landowners to create the tax district, which would pay for about $330 million in capital funding for the project.

To implement the district, the group needs support from either a majority of the affected landowners or from owners controlling a majority of the land in the area. The petition now needs approval from the Herndon Town Council and Fairfax's Board of Supervisors.

U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a former chairman of the Fairfax board, called the announcement critical to ensuring that Metro would extend its service through Fairfax and into Loudoun County.

Bob McDonnell's visit to a Fairfax County GOP breakfast pep rally yesterday was a homecoming of sorts. The Burke Fire Department hall was surrounded with those familiar "Fairfax's Own" signs, and the more than 300 activists getting pumped over coffee and pancakes were more than happy to claim him as their own.

But the visit also offered an acknowledgement of the role the county has played this year in reviving Republican hopes after a morale-crushing few years in the once-red state.

McDonnell, who leads Democrat R. Creigh Deeds in the polls, gave a particular shout-out to Fairfax supervisors Pat Herrity and John Cook, whose better-than-expected performances in a couple of elections (along with the success of Republican Frank Fannon and GOP-endorsed independent Alicia Hughes in Alexandria and a close House of Delegates special election in Arlington) helped create momentum for Virginia Republicans this year. ""Pat Herrity and John Cook, the leaders of the revolution," McDonnell said to thunderous applause.

Vice President Joe Biden spoke Thursday night at a fundraising reception at the home of former Virginia senator and governor Chuck Robb, for three freshman Virginia House Democrats facing tough re-election campaigns.

Biden, speaking inside an open-air pool house inside Robb's McLean mansion, noted that two of the three Democrats in attendance - U.S. Reps. Glenn Nye and Tom Perriello - would face difficult challenges in their more traditionally conservative Virginia districts.

"I don't have to tell you that you're in a very competitive state," he said. "You got some tough votes coming up."

He noted that the third Virginia House Democrat - U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, a former Fairfax County supervisor - had a "few liberals" in his left-leaning Northern Virginia district. He called the triumvirate "independent minded" and "damn competent," but united on several core Democratic Party themes, including energy policy and health care.

"These guys are smart. Some of the guys Chuck (Robb) and I have campaigned for are turkeys," he said. "Not all Democrats are created equal, while most Republicans are."

Northern Virginia U.S. Rep. Gerald E. Connolly took readers' questions earlier today, discussion transportation, health care plans, the environment, Creigh Deeds vs. Bob McDonnell and more. Excerpts follow.

Washington, DC: What are your views on DC voting rights? Will you help move the bill through this session?

Rep. Gerry Connolly: I support D.C. voting rights. It is unconscionable that 600,000 Americans living in the District of Columbia do not having voting representation in Congress.

I am a cosponsor of legislation to give D.C. a vote in Congress and will do everything in my power to make it happen as soon as possible.

Northern Virginia congressman Gerald E. Connolly will be at 1 p.m. today to discuss health-care reform, extending Metro's reach to Woodbridge, how he feels stimulus money has been handled in the Washington area, and any other topic you'd like to ask him about.

Submit a question for the representative now, or read the full discussion live or after it's over.

This week's Kitchen Table takes us to Greenspring Village, a retirement community in Springfield and one of the most politically engaged communities in the state. Just about every candidate running for Fairfax County or statewide office makes at least one swing through this tree-lined 100-acre campus, and no wonder: turnout in last fall's election was 87 percent of its 1,945 registered voters (and just about everyone here is registered to vote).

So it's perhaps no surprise that Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D), a former chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors who knows these residents well, on Tuesday held a healthcare town hall meeting at Greenspring Village. (You can meet some of these residents in a video published on washingtonpost.com.)

Is this a YouTube friendly speaking aide or what?

Rep. Gerald E. Connolly took to the floor of the House of Representatives today to push for health care reform, accompanied by a sign featuring Sen. Jim Demint's now famous Obama-Waterloo quote. And that baby is bright.

Take a look at Connolly's speech here.

The RNC gave us Jerry Kilgore yesterday. Today the DNC presents Rep. Gerald Connolly and Democratic Party of Virginia Chairman Richard Cranwell, slamming Rep. Eric Cantor and Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell for not supporting President Obama's stimulus package. Or the recovery bill, as they call it.

Cantor, they say, has touted jobs that will be created through building high speed rail in Virginia, funded with stiumulus money. McDonnell has recently spoken flatteringly of the impact of tax cuts pushed by George Bush.

"You can't have it both ways. You can't on the national stage say this is a bad bill...but when it comes to my district I want a big chunk of that money. I want to be there with all four paws and snout in the trough," Connolly said.

It's the start of a hot August of efforts by the national parties to target politicians they believe may be vulnerable at home. The DNC today launches TV and radio ads against several Republican congressional leaders, including Cantor, accusing them of supporting Bush polices that wrecked the economy. "They broke it. Now they refuse to fix it," the tv ad says.

Meanwhile, the RNC likewise last week launched a new $1 million ad campaign targeting 60 Democrats, including Virginians Reps. Tom Perriello, Glenn Nye and Rick Boucher.

UPDATE: And there's response from the RNC, where spokeswoman Katie Wright said the bill "wastes Virginians tax dollars and has done nothing to stimulate the economy." Noting rising unemployment since Obama's inauguration, she said "it is hard to see how this massive spending experiment can be billed as a success."

Here's the post from Republican Paul Miller's personal Facebook page about not running. It sounds like the state GOP is behind Keith Fimian because, as the founder of a successful home inspection business, he can inject his own money into the race (just as he did last year against Democrat Gerry Connolly).

I wanted to let you all know I've decided to end my campaign for the 11th congressional district seat in Virginia. This is one of the hardest decisions I've had to make because I am not a quitter and doing so feels like quitting.

It has become apparent this week that the Virginia Republican party wants a self-funding candidate. I would have thought as a party we could have seen that in recent elections self-funding doesn't mean a candidate can buy the election. We saw this most recently in the Democratic Gubernatorial primary race where self-funding was trumped by message and ideas. We went down this road in 2008 and we lost badly. I hope in 2010 the results are different.

I cannot thank you enough for your early support. I plan to stay involved and work to ensure we elect a good crop of delegate candidates this November. If you want to get involved in helping join the OurVirginiaNow Facebook group.

UPDATE: Two sources say Paul Miller decided today that he is NOT running for Congress next year.

Republican Keith Fimian, the founder of a national home-inspection business, announced this week that he is planning for a rematch against Democrat Gerry Connolly in Northern Virginia's 11th Congressional District.

But wait! Fimian is not the only Republican eager to challenge Connolly, who is just six months into his first term in Congress. Although Connolly beat Fimian resoundingly last November (55 percent to 43 percent), he did so in a historic election year when much of the heavy turnout favored Barack Obama (and therefore Connolly too).

That's one reason why Paul Miller, a Capitol Hill lobbyist, is also pondering a run. Miller hasn't formally announced, but he has set up a "Paul Miller for Congress" Facebook page.

Remember: Republican Tom Davis held the 11th District for 14 years, and Davis helped redraw the boundaries in 2001 to keep it as Republican-leaning as possible. Certainly the district, which encompasses central and southern Fairfax County and a large swath of Prince William, has grown bluer in recent elections. But it is by no means viewed as a slam-dunk for Democrats, and this race is worth watching, especially as Connolly weighs in on President Obama's increasingly controversial federal agenda, notably health care reform. Connolly also voted for tougher emissions standards, also known as cap and trade.

U.S. Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) is pretty happy this week about his first major legislative victory in the House of Representatives: a bill that affords financial protections to deployed service personnel.

Connolly, who today was anointed president of the House's freshman class, pushed the bill (which, to the chagrin of his staff, he named the HADD Act, for Helping Active Duty Deployed) through in a speedy 10 days, he said.

The law makes it illegal for cell phone companies and landlords to charge early termination fees against service members who have to back out of contracts because they are deployed.

Connolly introduced the measure on behalf of a group of veterans of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan who visited him on Capitol Hill.

"One guy told a horror story," he said. "It took him seven months of personally going to the office to get out of his telephone contract. Seven months," Connolly said. "And here's a man who has been called up by his country to serve."

The bill was made into an amendment to the defense authorization bill, which passed the House on Thursday and awaits consideration in the Senate.

President Obama came calling in Virginia today, hosting a forum on health care at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale. Gov. Tim Kaine was on stage for a portion of the event, and tons of Virginia Democratic luminaries were in the crowd, from Sen. Mark Warner to U.S. Reps Gerry Connolly, Bobby Scott and Jim Moran.

But Democratic gubernatorial candidate state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds was not around. Was he invited?

Deeds says yes. In an interview this afternoon, Deeds said he would have liked to be at the health care forum but had already agreed to address secondary school principals in Williamsburg this morning and then had other appointments in the Hampton Roads area.

U.S. Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) has endorsed Mark L. Keam in the four-man race for the Democratic nomination in the House of Delegates' 35th District.

Connolly's endorsement comes a day after one of Keam's opponents, Roy J. Baldwin, criticized Keam for his work as a federal lobbyist for Verizon. Keam is a former chief counsel to Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) and also worked stints at the Federal Communications Commission and Small Business Administration.

Keam is also a Korean-born immigrant, a potential advantage in increasingly diverse and Democrat-leaning Fairfax County. And he has raised more money than the other three contenders, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D) lambastes Republican gubernatorial nominee Robert F. McDonnell this week over the state's refusal to accept $125 million in federal stimulus money for unemployed Virginians.

"I would challenge you to explain to a single Virginia family why their economic security is less important than your party's political ambitions, and that Virginians facing the devastation of unemployment and the concomitant consequences of foreclosure, loss of healthcare, and creditworthiness for the partisan gain of the Republican Party and its gubematorial aspirants," Connolly wrote in a letter to McDonnell.

The Republican-led House of Delegates voted 53 to 46, largely along party lines, last month to reject the funds. McDonnell supported that decision.

U.S. Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) will hold his annual St. Patrick's Day party Tuesday at the Kena Temple in Fairfax featuring the usual fare of corned beef, cabbage and a Democratic straw poll.

Connolly is expecting upwards of 500 guests. The straw poll will measure support for candidates in this year's contested Democratic primaries for governor and lieutenant governor.

Most Democratic statewide candidates are expected to attend, organizers said. For tickets, contact Donald Brownlee at 703-267-6888. The event will run from 7 to 9:30 p.m. in the ballroom of the Kena Temple, 9001 Arlington Blvd., Fairfax.

U.S. Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) is under fire, mostly from Republicans, for jokingly urging fellow Democrats at a recent political event to give Republicans the wrong date for the Feb. 3 special election for Fairfax County chairman.

Speaking to about 700 guests at a Fairfax County Democratic Committee ball held last weekend at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Connolly, who was chairman until taking congressional office earlier this month, urged the crowd to help elect Vice Chairman Sharon S. Bulova (D-Braddock) in the Feb. 3 special election to replace him.

"You know, it's really important to tell every Democrat we know this election is on Tuesday, Feb. 3, and to tell every Republican we know that this election is on Tuesday Feb. 10," Connolly said to laughter.

The remarks were captured on video and have been bouncing through the blogosphere -- and accompanied by charges that Connolly crossed a line by attempting to suppress Republican voter turnout. The video, which was first highlighted on the blog NotLarrySabato, was also featured on the conservative television commentator Sean Hannity's program, "Hannity's America." Hannity dubbed the video "Enfranchisement, Connolly style," and described Connolly as "all for voting rights until the election gets too close for comfort."

We're calling the 11th Congressional District, with 75 percent of precincts reporting. As results came in, Connolly maintained his edge, holding onto 52 percent of the vote.

8:25
In the closely-watched 11th Congressional District, the race is tight.

Democrat Gerald E. Connolly (D) had 50 percent to Republican Keith S. Fimian's 47 percent, with 8 percent of precincts reporting.

Fimian, a successful business owner, lacks the name-recoginition of Connolly, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. But Fimian appears to be holding his own in early returns.

Democrats are counting on Connolly's popularity and the changing demographics of Northern Virginia, which has increasingly trended blue, to support a win.

8:15 p.m.

In Virginia's 8th District, Democrat James P. Moran had a commanding lead over low-profile newcomer Republican Mark W. Ellmore. With 10 percent of precincts reporting, the nine-term incumbent Moran held a 67 percent advantage over Ellmore's 30 percent.

7: 54 p.m.

It's very early, but Republican incumbent Frank R. Wolf appears to have a strong lead over Democrat Judith M. Feder in the 10th Congressional District. Wolf was leading with 66 percent to 33 percent. Independent Neeraj C. Nigam held 1 percent of the vote.

In the 1st Congressional district, that includes parts of Prince William and Fauquier counties, Republican Robert J. "Rob" Wittman held a convincing lead over Democrat Bill S. Day, Jr. and Libertarian Nathan D. Larson. With 8 percent of precincts reporting, Wittman had 60 percent to Day's 38 percent.

(Photo by Tim Craig - TWP)

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's political staff pose with Paul Reagan, chief of staff for Sen. James Webb (D-Va.), at the Democratic National Convention. From left to right, Reagan, Matt Felan, a senior adviser and fundraiser for Moving Virginia Forward, Charles Kelly, executive director of Moving Virginia Forward, and Dave Brooks, finance director for Moving Virginia Forward.

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly, the Democratic nominee in the 11th congressional district, claims he has a 31-point lead over his Republican opponent, Keith Fimian.

Connolly's campaign released an internal poll that his pollster, Lake Research Partners, conducted from July 10 to July 14. According to the survey, Connolly receives 52 percent of the vote to Fimian's 21 percent. Independent Green Party candidate Joe Oddo receives 2 percent. The candidates are vying to replace Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), who is retiring.

"This is a real pick-up opportunity for Democrats as they seek to expand their governing majority," pollsters Celinda Lake and Joshua Ulibarri wrote in a memo. "Connolly is well-positioned to win."

But the memo reads somewhat like a fundraising appeal.

Keith Fimian, the Republican candidate in the 11th Congressional District, announced today he has over $1 million in the bank for his race against Democratic nominee Gerald E. Connolly, the chairman of the Fairfax Board of Supervisors.

Fimian, a businessman, says he has so far taken in about $1.3 million for his effort, including the $325,000 he loaned his campaign shortly after he entered the race. Fimian said his fundraising proves he will have the resources to stay competitive with Connolly, even though the 11th district has an increasingly Democratic tilt.

"With the money I am raising I will be able to deliver my message of bringing accountability to government to citizens across the district and win in November," Fimian said.

Connolly, who secured his party's nomination last month, has not yet released his quarterly fundraising report. But a source close to Connolly said he has about $300,000 in the bank following his costly primary battle against former U.S. Rep. Leslie L. Byrne.

As the 2008 Virginia Democratic Party convention draws to a close, here are eight observations about the weekend's events at the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton.

1) If the Democrats' goal was to leave the convention united behind Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), they still have a lot of work to do. Surprisingly, numerous supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY.) said they weren't sure if they would vote for Obama in the fall.

Democrat Gerald E. Connolly of Fairfax County, the top elected official of the region's largest jurisdiction, won a decisive primary victory yesterday in Northern Virginia's 11th Congressional District against former representative Leslie L. Byrne.

But with less than 6 percent of registered voters participating in the election, the results don't say a whole lot about what could happen come November.

Connolly beat Byrne with nearly 58 percent of the vote to her 33 percent. In raw numbers, however, he won by just over 6,000 votes -- little more than 1 percent of the 11th Congressional District's 446,000 active registered voters.

Bob commented about the primary today and said, "I voted today--at 7:50 AM. I noticed I was the 6th person to vote...sad. I figure if candidates can put in the time, effort and energy it takes to run--plus the willingness to put themselves "out there" in the public eye-- we as the public should at least respect their efforts, show up at the polls and cast a vote."

We want to hear from you. Take the poll and tell us about your voting experience in the comment section below.

After morning and lunch-hour rushes that looked more like a trickle, Northern Virginia election officials predicted historically low turnout in today's congressional primaries despite a fiercely competitive Democratic contest for an open seat in the 11th District, where Republican Tom Davis is retiring.

At Sleepy Hollow Elementary School, Democratic candidate Leslie Byrne greets a prospective voter and his son at the polls. (By Emma Patti -- washingtonpost.com)

Through much of the afternoon, precincts across the region looked like ghost towns. At the Fair Oaks precinct of central Fairfax County, just 15 ballots had been cast at 2 p.m., officials said.

"Turnout is, I don't want to say anemic, but turnout is very, very, very, very light," said Rokey Suleman, Fairfax County's general registrar, who predicted that turnout was unlikely to exceed 5 percent by the time polls close at 7 p.m. -- a dismal contrast to the one-third of registered voters who participated in February's presidential contest statewide. Turnout in the 2006 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate was 5.8 percent in Fairfax County.

In Fairfax City, general registrar Jeremiah Vangen reported just 605 ballots cast by 2 p.m. out of more than 14,000 registered voters. Polls close at 7 p.m.

At the Mantua polling place, Democratic candidate Gerry Connolly greets Mantua precinct captain Patty Parker before voting. (By Emma Patti -- washingtonpost.com)

"The presidential campaign has overshadowed this campaign," said Sally Ormsby, a precinct captain at the Price precinct in central Fairfax County. "People weren't focused on this, even though it's a huge competition."

In the hotly contested 11th District, which encompasses central and southern Fairfax County and a swath of Prince William County, low turnout adds a measure of uncertainty in a four-way primary battle between Fairfax County Board Chairman Gerald E. Connolly, former representative Leslie L. Byrne, former Navy pilot Doug Denneny and physical therapist Lori P. Alexander.

U.S. Rep. Robert C. Scott (D-Va.) said today he has endorsed Leslie L. Byrne in the hotly contested Democratic primary in the 11th Congressional District, while the Mid-Atlantic Laborers Union has backed Byrne rival Gerald E. Connolly.

Scott, who lives in Newport News and represents Virginia's only majority-African-American district, worked alongside Byrne both in the General Assembly and in Congress during her one term in the early 1990s. Like Byrne, he is viewed as one of Virginia's most prominent liberal Democrats.

In the heated race for the Democratic nomination in the 11th congressional district, former congresswoman Leslie L. Byrne out-raised Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly over the past two months.

Byrne and Connolly, widely regarded as the two front-runners for the Democratic nomination in the race to succeed retiring Rep Tom Davis (R-Va.), now both have roughly the same amount of money to spend during the final two weeks leading up to June 10 primary.

According to campaign finance reports, Byrne raised $182,000 between April 1 and May 21, and has $286,000 in the bank. Connolly, who had a significant cash-on-hand advantage over Byrne just two months ago, reported he raised $152,000 during the same time period. Connolly has $280,000 in the bank.

The congressional campaign of Leslie L. Byrne has released details from an internal poll showing her in a statistical dead heat with fellow Democrat Gerald E. Connolly.

The two are competing in the June 10 primary along with two others, Doug Denneny and Lori P. Alexander, for the Democratic nomination in the 11th Congressional District, where incumbent Tom Davis is retiring. The winner will face Republican newcomer Keith Fimian in the fall in an increasingly blue-leaning district that includes much of central Fairfax County and a part of Prince William County.

According to an internal memo issued by the campaign, Connolly is ahead of Byrne 37 percent to 34 percent among likely Democratic primary voters -- a statistical dead heat given the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

The money keeps flowing into the 11th Congressional District's Democratic primary showdown.

According to disclosure reports to be filed to the Federal Election Commission tomorrow, Gerald E. Connolly, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, is leading the pack of four after raising $500,000 during the first quarter of 2008.

As of March 31, Connolly had $424,000 on hand, his campaign reported.

New polling by Fairfax County Board Chairman Gerald E. Connolly continues to show him with a significant lead over Leslie L. Byrne in the race for the 11th District Democratic Congressional nomination.

The poll of likely Democratic primary voters, first reported yesterday by the Congressional newspaper The Hill, had Connolly ahead of Byrne by a 20-point margin, 45-25. That is just slightly below the 23-point spread Connolly claimed in a January poll. Both surveys were conducted by Lake Research Partners.

It shows two other opponents, Doug Denneny and Lori Alexander, trailing far behind with one percent each.

Former state Sen. Joseph V. Gartlan Jr., for 28 years one of the most liberal voices of the General Assembly, has endorsed Gerald E. Connolly, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, for the Democratic nomination in the 11th Congressional District.

The endorsement provides a boost for Connolly in an area where he needs it: among liberal party activists, with whom his principal opponent, former state senator Leslie L. Byrne, has strong roots. Such voters will be crucial in the June 10 primary.

Gartlan's endorsement is notable for two reasons: As a liberal, he is ideologically close to Byrne. And that leads to point No. 2, which is that Gartlan had already endorsed Byrne, but he changed his mind after Connolly got in the race.

Endorsements are a chronically overvalued commodity in politics. Remember a few weeks ago when Ted Kennedy's testimonial to Barack Obama at American University was heralded as a ground-changing event?

But that's never stopped campaigns from cranking them out--big names and little ones. Gerry Connolly announced 29 local officials on Wednesday in his campaign for the 11th District Democratic Congressional nomination. Today was House of Delegates day: Del. Kenneth R. Plum (D-Fairfax); Del. James M. Scott (D-Fairfax); Del. David L. Bulova (D-Fairfax); Del. Vivian E. Watts (D-Fairfax); Del. Dave W. Marsden (D-Fairfax); Del. C. Charles Caputo (D-Fairfax), and Del. Paul F. Nichols (D-Prince William).

Former Rep. Leslie L. Byrne has her own long state house list, including Del. Robert D. Hull (D-Fairfax); Del. Margi Vanderhye (D-Fairfax) and Del. Lionell Spruill Sr. (D-Chesapeake), DNC National Committeeman. Byrne has also brought home the marquee endorsement of the race to date, Sen. James Webb.

As investments go, Gerald E. Connolly has yielded pretty good returns for Fairfax County firefighters and paramedics.

Their union, Local 2068 of the International Association of Firefighters, has put up nearly $100,000 in campaign contributions to the Board of Supervisors chairman over the last four years.

During that period, they've received salary increases significantly higher than those of other county employees. County and union officials say there was no quid pro quo, and that the raises were strictly a matter of keeping public safety pay competitive with surrounding communities.

St. Patrick's Day may not be, as Fairfax Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly likes to joke, "the holiest day of the year." But for Connolly it's certainly the most profitable.

Connolly, running for the 11th District Democratic Congressional nomination, will once again celebrate with high and low-end fundraisers. He'll hold a $1,000-a-plate lunch at the Tower Club in Tysons Corner, followed by his 14th annual fete Monday evening at the Kena Temple on Route 50, where Democrats will pay $35-a-head for beer, corned beef and cabbage.

Last year's lunch brought in about $300,000 for his campaign for a second term as Fairfax Board chairman, which he won in November.

Gerald E. Connolly, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and candidate for the congressional seat of retiring Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), released poll results today giving him a 23-point lead over Democratic rival Leslie L. Byrne.

Sen. James Webb said today he is endorsing Leslie L. Byrne in the race for the Democratic nomination in the 11th congressional district.

"I am convinced that Leslie Byrne is our best candidate," Webb said in a statement. " Leslie shares my values about economic fairness and the need to re-order our national security policies - both in Iraq and throughout the world. In her service as a state legislator and member of Congress, Leslie Byrne has demonstrated time and again that she is tough, fiercely independent and willing to stand up to powerful special interests. I would be proud to serve in Congress with her."

Byrne is running against Fairfax County Board chairman Gerald E. Connolly, retired naval commander Doug Denneny and Lori P. Alexander in the June 10 Democratic primary. Incumbent Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) is retiring.

Andrew Hurst, the 2006 Democratic Congressional nominee in the 11th District, has endorsed Gerald E. Connolly in the party's June 10 primary.

Four years ago this month, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors gathered at a guest ranch on the Shenandoah River for a two-day retreat to sort through ideas and set priorities for their new four year term.

Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) speaks fondly of the group cohesion that he said emerged from the trip. At the Stanley, Va. ranch, owned by then-Supervisor Elaine N. McConnell (R-Springfield), board members made breakfast together, sat around the piano in the evening, and generally got to know each other away from telephones, e-mail and the constant drumbeat of official business.

Is Del. Timothy D. Hugo (R-Fairfax) rethinking his decision not to run for Congress in the 11th congressional district?

Earlier this month, Hugo said he decided not to seek the GOP nomination to replace Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va), who announced yesterday he is retiring after 13 years in the House. With Davis now out of the race, Hugo may be reconsidering.

"I've had a lot of calls," said Hugo, who some Republicans believe would be their strongest candidate. "I need to talk to my wife. We'll see."

Gerald E. Connolly (D), chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, still hasn't moved past the "exploratory" phase of his bid for Congress. But his committee very proudly shared some early fundraising numbers to make the point that Connolly has the ability to run a well-financed campaign.

According to James Walkinshaw, who runs Connolly's exploratory committee, Connolly has raised $161,000 since the beginning of January, when he announced the formation of the committee to pursue a bid in the 11th Congressional District. By contrast, fellow Democrat Leslie L. Byrne will report at the end of the month that she raised $115,000 between the November elections and the new year, she said in an interview yesterday.

"That's in just three and a half weeks," Walkinshaw said.

By day, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) confines his public pronouncements largely to the nuts and bolts of local government. Last night, however, evoked a little of the old time religion for the general membership meeting of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee.

Get ready to be inundated with a series of potentially competitive elections.

Because of the Democratic resurgence in Virginia, voters are going to be facing more choices at the polls over the next two years than they have in decades.

It all starts Feb. 12, with the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries.

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) may already be missing Elaine McConnell.

He seldom clashed publicly with the six-term Republican supervisor from Springfield who retired on Dec. 31. The two got along so well that critics in McConnell's district tagged her a RINO (Republican in Name Only). But Connolly could be in for a different experience with her successor, Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield).

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) sounded like he was test-marketing bumper sticker language at his swearing-in ceremony last night.
"Government that works. Results that matter," he said in his inaugural address. That catch-phrase followed a list of achievements straight from the stump speech he used in his resounding November re-election victory over Republican Gary H. Baise.
Conciliation and statesmanship are the usual fare at inaugural ceremonies. But Connolly, who wants to contend for the 11th District Congressional seat if incumbent Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R) retires, seemed to take special pains to soften partisan edges and craft a speech that reached out to Davis' moderate base. He invoked Theodore Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena" speech and departed from his prepared text to recognize Baise, who was in attendance, for a round of applause.
"None of us in public life has a corner on the truth," Connolly said. "In public life, dogma serves us poorly. We see it in the political gridlock in Richmond and in Washington.....Respect and humility offer a more productive model for debate in the arena."

The Democratic presidential nomination may be a settled issue by the Feb. 12 Virginia primary. But that didn't stop Northern Virginia party activists from conducting a straw poll in Falls Church on Saturday. It came at a thank-you brunch hosted by Fairfax County Board Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D). There were only 265 votes cast, but hey, it's a poll. So it's got to be accurate, right?
The results:
Clinton 35 percent (93)
Obama 24 percent (63)
Edwards 18 percent (48)
Richardson 10 percent (26)
Biden 7 percent (19)
Kucinich 4 percent (9)
Dodd 2 percent (6)
Gravel 0 percent (1)

Doug Denneny, a retired Naval commander, has kicked off his campaign for the Democratic nomination for Congress in the 11th District.

In a series of events this week, Denneny stressed his background and stance on the issues makes him best candidate to replace Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va), who has yet to announce whether he plans to seek reelection.

Denneny is calling for an immediate end to the war in Iraq, universal access to health care and additional federal help for Northern Virginia's traffic problems.

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) swept all nine magisterial districts in his thumping of Republican Gary H. Baise on Tuesday. He carried Sully and Springfield -- which he lost to Mychele B. Brickner (R) in 2003 -- by comfortable margins.

A closer look at the returns confirms that Connolly was successful in neutralizing illegal immigration as an issue. Connolly opposed get tough measures touted by other candidates such as withholding services and involving local police in immigration enforcement. Yet he won Herndon, the region's longtime immigration battleground, with nearly 57 percent of the vote, better than his showing in 2003.

The numbers also suggest that Connolly's push for creation of the "Enhanced Code Enforcement Strike Team" to crack down on illegal boarding houses also paid political dividends. In Lee District, he handily won precincts that generated the most complaints about residential overcrowding -- including Crestwood, which he narrowly lost to Brickner in 2003.

The phone's been ringing a lot in the household of Gerald E. Connolly (D), chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, who not only overwhelmingly won a second four-year term against Republican Gary H. Baise on Tuesday, but also picked up another Democrat on the board. Come January Democrats will hold an 8-to-2 majority.

But even for Connolly, one call stood out yesterday morning. It was from presidential contender Hillary Clinton, who rang up to offer her congratulations.

Newly re-elected Fairfax Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly has no intention of going on the Metro board of directors, according to his chief of staff.

There had been discussion that Connolly might try to expand his regional influence by claiming the Virginia seat on the high-profile panel that will be vacated in January by the retiring T. Dana Kauffman (D-Lee).

But chief of staff Dominic Bonaiuto said it's not in the cards, and that he wants to move the current alternate, Supervisor Cathy Hudgins (D-Hunter Mill), up to principal voting member. A new alternate member to the Metro board will be appointed when the Fairfax Supervisors reorganize in January, he said.

There is talk that if he wins re-election as expected Tuesday, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) may try to expand his regional influence by grabbing the Virginia seat on the Metro board of directors. The current Virginia member, Fairfax Supervisor T. Dana Kauffman (D-Lee), did not seek re-election to the Fairfax board this year and is retiring.

There's a bit more to the story of the Lyndon Johnson photos in the conference room of Fairfax Board Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D).

As The Post mentioned in its Monday morning piece on Connolly's four year record as chairman, the series of photos, known as "The Johnson Treatment," show the then-Senate Majority Leader strongarming a committee chairman.