Virginia Politics Blog

When the 21-member Democratic caucus of the Virginia Senate met Friday and Saturday for a two-day retreat to strategize for this January's legislative session, one member was not among them: Sen. Creigh Deeds.

We're hearing that the former Democratic gubernatorial nominee did not make the trek to Portsmouth from Bath for the meeting. Which might have made it a bit less awkward for other members of the group to talk through why Deeds was defeated by Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell by almost 18 points. Deeds failed to excite black voters, we're told one senator suggested. Deeds failed to excite white ones either, another senator responded.

Republicans are calling on Del. Dave Marsden (D-Fairfax) to resign from the House of Delegates as he runs in a special election for the state Senate seat being vacated by Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli.

OurVirginiaNow, a new state political action committee that aims to help Republican candidates get elected across the state, is encouraging district residents to contact Marsden and ask him to resign.

"I think Marsden ought to resign his House seat immediately,'' said Paul Miller, president of OurVirginiaNow. "He owes us that. He was elected to produce results for his constituents, not continue to seek other elected positions he may deem more attractive for his career."

If Marsden wins the Jan. 12 election, the governor would have to call a special election to fill his House seat, which would leave the 41st District without representation for some time when the General Assembly reconvenes Jan. 13. OurVirginiaNow also complains that it would cost thousands of dollars.

Marsden said today that he will not resign from the House, and that if he won the Senate seat he could represent the House district for a short period until a replacement is elected.

Gov. Tim Kaine (D) is meeting with his economic advisers behind closed doors this morning to review the state's revenue estimates as he continues to write the state's next budget.

Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell (R) and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) are also attending the packed meeting on Capitol Square.

This afternoon, Kaine and McDonnell will meet privately -- their first in-person meeting since McDonnell defeated Democrat Creigh Deeds on Nov. 3.

State officials learned last week that they may need to cut up to $2.9 billion more from core services, such as education, law enforcement and health care, by mid-2012 in response to Virginia's financial crisis.

Kaine will introduce his proposed two-year budget in December, a month before he leaves office. The General Assembly and McDonnell will use that as a blueprint, but will make changes based on their priorities and the economic forecast.

(And, yes, in case you were wondering, this is the first time Bolling is attending the Governor's Advisory Council on Revenue Estimates. Remember how his Democratic opponent Jody Wagner chided him for never attending? This time, McDonnell asked him to come along.)

Updated: Kaine told reporters after the meeting that everything, including a variety of cuts and tax increases, are being considered to address the budget shortfall. "I think people are going to see an awful lot in this budget that they don't like,'' he said. "But people are doing it in their families and their businesses. They're having to make tough decisions."

Virginia Sens. Jim Webb and Mark Warner voted with their fellow Democrats last night to bring to the floor a bill that would overhaul the nation's health-care system.

The 60 to 39 vote was on a procedural motion to begin debate, which Senate leaders hope to wrap up by Christmas.

"I will only support a final bill if I am convinced it will lower the deficit, drive down health care costs over the long term, and improve the value and quality of the health care Virginians receive,'' Warner wrote in a statement released last night.

The GOP's national chairman, Michael Steele, used Republican Bob McDonnell's recent landslide defeat over Democrat Ceigh Deeds to show that Americans do not want "a government-run health system."

"As recent elections in Virginia and New Jersey showed, Harry Reid's health care scheme is exactly what voters do not want," Steele said.

The House passed a $1 trillion health-care bill two weeks ago. Virginia's congressional delegation voted 4 to 7 in favor of passage with two Democrats, Rick Boucher and Glenn Nye, breaking with their parties and voting no.

Did you know there's a Republican New Media Caucus in Congress? Neither did we.

But one of the group's chairmen -- Virginia's own U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman (R) -- was on hand to speak to dozens of bloggers today at the Blogs United conference at Christopher Newport University in Newport News.

Also at the conference, a slew of congressional candidates, mingling with bloggers and others, as they try to kick off their 2010 campaigns:

Five candidates in two of the state's hottest races turned out: Republicans Scott Rigell , Ken Golden, Scott Taylor and Ben Loyola are vying to replace U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye (D) in Hampton Roads while Michael McPadden is one of the many Republicans looking to unseat U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello (D).

Also on hand: Democrats Scott Robinson and Krystal Ball looking to replace Wittman and Republican Coby Dillard running against U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott (D) in district 3, which includes Richmond and parts of Hampton Roads.

Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell was invited the conference, but was unable to attend.

(Full disclosure: I participated on a panel with other reporters from the Virginia capitol press corps on the role of media blogs.)

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will travel to Virginia this weekend for the seventh stop of her national tour to promote her book, Going Rogue: An American Life.

Palin, the 2008 vice presidential nominee, will appear at a Barnes & Noble in Roanoke at 10 a.m. Sunday -- the first Virginia stop on the much ballyhooed tour. She's expected in Fairfax County in a couple weeks.

Check out the Post stories on Palin's first two stops in Michigan and Indiana where crowds lined up early to catch a glimpse of the possible presidential hopeful and get their books signed.

The Roanoke Times reports that more than 1,000 people are expected to turn out.

Local Republican officials are expected to attend, but no statewide officials. And yes, that includes Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell, who distanced himself from the controversial conservative figure during his campaign.

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.