DENVER -- U.S. Sen. James Webb (D-Va.) will arrive in Denver later today to attend his first Democratic National Convention.

Webb's arrival will highlight one of the most significant political transformations in a generation, considering he was a self-described Republican just eight years ago.

But Webb has a packed schedule over the next 48 hours. Webb is sponsoring a breakfast for the Virginia delegation tomorrow. Later in the day, Webb will attend a luncheon sponsored by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, according to his aides. Webb will then do a round of national media interviews and mingle with Virginia delegates on the convention floor tomorrow evening, the same night that U.S. Senate candidate Mark R. Warner (D) is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the convention.

Webb plans to leave Denver Wednesday morning so he can travel to Phoenix, where he will deliver the keynote address at an American Legion convention.

Despite his early departure from the convention, Webb will likely be a big hit among the delegates. Not only has he built a national reputation due to his work in the Senate, Webb has also apparently discovered that convention delegates love their breakfast.

The Republican Party of Virginia received a big check recently from John M Templeton Jr., who has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into Republican and conservative causes over the years.

The son of the late finance guru Sir John Templeton, John M. Templeton Jr. of Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania gave the Virginia Republican Party $80,000 on July 30, according to the State Board of Elections.

He appears to have made the largest contribution from an individual to the Virgnia Republican Party since 2000, according to information from the Virginia Public Access Project, which tracks money in state politics.

John M. Templeton Jr. is one of the founding members of Freedom's Watch, an organization that seeks to be the conservative version of Moveon.org. Freedom's Watch has aired millions of dollars in television ads in support of the war of Iraq. The group also plans to spend tens of millions of dollars this fall on ads targeting Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Democratic congressional candidates.

According to the New York Times, Templeton's father was one of the world's richest men when he died last month. His son, John M. Templeton Jr., the donor to the Virginia GOP and Freedom's Watch, now heads up the John Templeton Foundation. The foundation has a $1.5 billion endowment.

The ACLU of Virginia sent letters today to housing authorities across the state, warning them not to prevent political campaigners from going door to door to distribute literature, talk with residents or register people to vote.

The letters, sent to administrators at all 28 housing authorities in the state, were prompted by the actions of the Bristol Redevelopment and Housing Authority, which blocked political campaigners from going door to door at its housing projects.

ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Kent Willis said the First Amendment protects both the right of campaigners to go door to door in public housing projects and the right of tenants to receive information about registering to vote and political campaigns.

"Just because people live in public housing does not mean they can be cut off from political debate," Willis said. "Public housing tenants have exactly the same rights as everyone else to be involved in our democracy, and housing authority officials violate the First Amendment when they block political campaigning and registration efforts at their doorsteps."

The letter, which cites a U. S. Supreme Court case affirming the First Amendment right to canvass, says the ACLU will consider a lawsuit on behalf of canvassers or tenants if need be.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) slammed Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick, the chairman of the Virginia Republican Party, this morning for saying on Monday that groups trying to register new voters are engaged in "a coordinated and widespread effort to commit voter fraud."

In an interview on WTOP radio, Kaine called Frederick's (Prince William) assertion "ridiculous."

"I think that is slandering the reputation of hardworking Virginians who care about elections and who want people to care about this process," Kaine said. "You know, I don't like to see folks doing things in the heat of a tough election to suggest they are trying to winnow down turnout and that is what I view (Frederick's) effort as."

Gerry Scimeca, a spokesman for the Virginia Republican Party, responded in an interview by rhetorically asking Kaine if he is "against people breaking the law," referring to the arrests last week of three canvassers in Hampton Roads charged with submitting false names on voter registration forms.

The Virginia Democratic Party's decision to add Jim Wilson, a longtime Republican operative, to the payroll of its coordinated campaign may be a sign that Democratic efforts this year may not be so coordinated after all.

The coordinated Democratic campaign has been established to boost U.S. Senate candidate Mark R. Warner, congressional candidates and Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), the party's presumptive nominee for president.

Although he is a Republican, Wilson supports Warner and travels the state putting up campaign signs for him.

But at Saturday's U.S. Senate debate between Warner and Republican Jim Gilmore, Wilson was seen with a sign in his truck that included Warner's name and that of Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the presumptive GOP nominee for president.

The Virginia Democratic Party continues to have a crushing advantage over the Virginia Republican Party when it comes to money that can be spent on the presidential, U.S. Senate and congressional races this year.

In campaign finance reports filed this week with the Federal Election Commission, the state Democratic Party had about $729,000 in its federal account, about $120,000 less than it had a month ago.

The Republican Party of Virginia reported it has $101,000 in its federal account. But over the past month, the party has generated $91,000 in unpaid debt, according to its July FEC report.

With Virginia shaping up as a battleground in the presidential contest between Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.),a few counties and cities will be key in deciding whether the state goes blue this year for the first time since 1964.

Just as the national map can be sliced into blue, red and purple states, so, too, can Virginia's 134 counties and cities.

In Northern Virginia, political analysts say, Obama will probably win in Alexandria and Arlington and Fairfax counties, given recent voting patterns. Democrats also usually rack up big wins in Richmond, Norfolk and Charlottesville. McCain will probably have a strong advantage in rural counties in western and southern Virginia.

What follows is a list of 10 Virginia locations that could be up for grabs.

Today is the deadline for both state and federal campaign finance reports. As the tallies for elected officials, parties and campaign committees are released, we will post them here.

Former governor James S. Gilmore III, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, raised $250,000 between May 21 and June 31. Gilmore has about $117,000 in the bank. Since he launched his campaign last fall, Gilmore has raised about $1.2 million.

Former governor Mark R. Warner, a Democratic Candidate for U.S. Senate, reports raising $2.9 million from April 1 to June 30. Warner has about $5.1 million in the bank. Warner has raised $9.3 million since he got into the race in September.

Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell, the likely Republican nominee for governor in 2009, will report he raised $878,000 so far this year. McDonnell has about $1.2 million in the bank.

Del. Brian J. Moran (D-Alexandria), who seeking the Democratic nomination for governor next year, says he raised about $1.4 million during the first six months of the year, although some of the money had been transferred from an old political account. Moran has $924,000 in the bank.

Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath), a Democratic candidate for governor next year, reports he raised $783,000 so far this year. Deeds has $650,000 on hand.

Shortly after Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) called a special session to try to tackle transportation funding issues, the governor gave a blunt assessment of what he hoped to accomplish by advocating a tax increase even though he didn't have the support of the Republican-controlled House of Delegates.

"It will be very productive to either try to find a solution or make it plain to people who are standing in the way," Kaine said in an interview with The Washington Post in May. "We are going to make something happen or let the public see who is obstructing, and frankly, that is one of the reasons why Democrats have won elections in Virginia."

But 10 days into the special session on transportation -- legislators have been on vacation for six of those days -- it remains uncertain whether any solution will be found or whether the governor will score any of those political points.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) now has another $100,000 donor to his political action committee, Moving Virginia Forward.

John O. Wynne, retired president and chief executive officer of Landmark Communications, which owns The Weather Channel and several newspapers, including the Virginian Pilot and Roanoke Times, gave Moving Virginia Forward $25,000 on June 20. Since Kaine took office in 2006, Wynne has contributed $125,000 to Moving Virginia Forward.

There are now six individuals or organizations that have contributed at least $100,000 to Kaine's political committee, which he uses to try to bolster the Virginia Democratic Party, including the governor's successful efforts last year in winning control of the state Senate, according to the Virginia Board of Elections and the Virginia Public Access Project.

Former governor Mark R. Warner and his wife, Lisa Collis, kicked in a lot of cash to get the Virginia Democratic Party's campaign efforts off the ground.

Some of Warner's biggest supporters aided in the effort, donating to a new Virginia Democratic fundraising committee after they gave all they legally can to Warner's Senate campaign.

Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick (Prince William), the chairman of the Virginia Republican Party, announced today that Allison Coccia will be the new executive director of the party.

Coccia is the former executive director of the New York Republican State Committee and has also been the political director of Republican Party of Pennsylvania. In both jobs, her task was complicated by an electorate that had soured on the GOP brand.

"After a thorough search that entailed interviewing several outstanding candidates, I concluded that Allison offers us a proven record at improving fundraising, communications, and building the grassroots," Frederick said.

The Republican Party of Virginia is apparently struggling to raise money as it gears up for the presidential race and this year's U.S. Senate race between Democrat Mark R. Warner and Republican James S. Gilmore III.

In an email to supporters today, the state party said it has been running a deficit in recent months.

"Just a few weeks ago, we began our efforts to provide bold, new leadership to the Republican Party of Virginia," the email states. "Yet, it hasn't been easy. RPV ran deficits in April, May and now in June, and recent fundraisers have actually lost money."

The Virginia Organizing Project, a group dedicated to combating racial and economic injustice, is engaged in a big effort this year to spread its political message and register new voters.

The Charlottesville-based group has 10 paid field organizers and 50 interns fanned out across the state knocking on doors each day. On an average night, they can hit as many as 4,000 households, according to Joe Szakos, the executive director.

By the end of July, Szakos said the staffers and interns and other volunteers will have distributed about 300,000 voting guides, which contain information about state and federal issues and details on how and where to go to register to vote.

Virginia Democrats love to snicker about the internal divisions that have plagued the state Republican Party in recent years. Now, they've got their own turmoil.

Some Democrats are fuming over how the state party conducted elections at its convention in Hampton on Saturday.

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.

Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick (Prince William), the newly elected chairman of the Virginia Republican Party, continues to shake up the leadership of the state party.

Since defeating former lieutenant governor John H. Hager for the chairman's job last weekend, many of the state party's senior staffers have resigned or been dismissed.

Frederick plans to announce today that Walter M. Curt, owner of Power Motors Inc, a Harrisonburg-based technology firm, will be the party's new finance chairman. Curt replaces Fred Malek, who resigned from his finance role at the state party last week. Malek still serves as the deputy national finance chairman for Arizona Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign.

Here are the answers to the election questions asked in last week's Virginia Notebook.

On Friday and Saturday, Republicans gathered at a Richmond convention center to select their nominee to fill the seat of retiring Sen. John W. Warner (R). They also elected a party chairman and delegates to the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick's election today as the new chairman of Virginia Republican Party will likely lead to some big changes at GOP headquarters, including possibly a new executive director, according to party officials.

Under former lieutenant governor John H. Hager, who Frederick unseated today in the chairman's race, Charles E. Judd served as executive director.

"You will probably be hearing some news about that next week," said Frederick, who lives in Prince William County. "I ran to make changes, so we will be making some changes." He declined further comment.

It's unclear how national Republicans in Washington will react to Frederick's efforts to shake up the party in the middle of a presidential race.

Thousands of party activists will converge on the Greater Richmond Convention Center this weekend for the state Republican convention.

Republicans will select their nominee for the race to fill the seat of retiring Sen. John W. Warner (R). They will also elect a party chairman and delegates to the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.

The convention will offer insight into the future direction of the party and clues into upcoming state and federal elections. Here are 15 questions the convention might help to answer. You can check back next week to find out the answers

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) has raised more than $370,000 from 15 contributors since mid March, a clear sign he plans to remain active in the political process even though he cannot seek reelection.

Kaine's fundraising for his political action committee, Moving Virginia Forward, includes a $100,000 donation on April 10 from Radford billionaire R.J. Kirk. Since Kaine took office in 2006, Kirk has donated $550,000 to Kaine's political committee, according to the State Board of Elections.

Kaine has received another $35,000 in donations since mid April from Shelia Johnston, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television. Johnston has contributed a total of $185,000 to Kaine since 2006.

Arizona Senator John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee for president, is getting a head start on the Democrats when it comes to opening a state headquarters in Virginia.

The McCain campaign, which is partnering with the Virginia Republican Party, is opening an office in the 1200 block of South Clark Street in Arlington. Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager, and state party chairman John H. Hager plan to hold a grand opening event at the office on Monday.

The office will serve as "the nerve center" for party officials helping McCain as well as GOP candidates running for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, according to a news release from the state party.

If you haven't already heard, Dan Drummond, a lobbyist and former newspaper reporter and political staffer well known in Richmond, won a seat on the Fairfax City Council.

Drummond, a senior vice president at the Powell Tate public affairs company, told the Washington Post that voters selected a trio of newcomers because of unhappiness at the rapid pace of development in recent years.

"We need to make sure we have balanced growth," he said. "We can't lose that special something, that small-town charm."

Del Dwight Clinton Jones (D-Richmond) announced yesterday that he will run for mayor of Richmond.

L. Douglas Wilder, Richmond's current mayor and the nation's first black governor, has hinted that he will run for re-election despite a string of bad publicity lately.

A familiar face in Virginia politics has decided to run for office himself.

Dan Drummond, a senior vice president at the Powell Tate public affairs company, is running for a seat on the Fairfax City Council.

Drummond previously worked as communications director for U.S. Rep. James P. Moran, Jr. ( D-Va.) and as legislative reporter in Richmond for the Washington Times.

Sen. Barack Obama didn't just beat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Virginia Democratic primary Feb..12. He defeated her so handily that Virginia politicians running for Congress or statewide office might want to study the results for clues about their political futures.

Obama's 28-point margin of victory was one of the largest percentage-point wins in recent history by a candidate in a supposedly competitive statewide primary or general election.

John H. Hager said today he plans to seek a full term as chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, despite a challenge from Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick (R-Prince William).

Hager, who became chairman in July after Ed Gillespie joined the Bush administration, said he wants to continue his efforts to put forward "a reform agenda" for the state party.

"I am not in a career job and I think I can do a good job," Hager said. "We are in good shape financially, which had not been the case before...We are working on being more of a service organization for our elected officials. ... I am imminently involved with all these pieces of the building blocks, so it is probably not a good time to make a change."

Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) has endorsed a bill by Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter (R-Prince William) that would allow Virginia voters to register with a political party.

Bolling sent a letter to lawmakers today that says party registration would "maintain the integrity of the party nomination process in Virginia" and allow candidates "to more effectively identify voters and efficiently communicate with them."

The Virginia Republican Party and GOP Senate candidate James S. Gilmore III are both beefing up their communications staffs in preparation for the fall elections.

State Party Chairman John Hager announced today that Josh Noland will be the party's new communications director.

Noland, who replaces Sean Kenney, used to work for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

It didn't take Herndon Mayor Stephen J. DeBenedittis long to jump into re-election mode. Less than a week after Town Council member Harlon Reece announced his candidacy for mayor in the May 6 elections, DeBenedittis has formally declared that he will seek a second term.

Herndon Town Council member Harlon Reece, who says he is disturbed by the tone of the debate over illegal immigration in the western Fairfax community, has announced that he will run for mayor this spring.