BY JOHN BRESNAHAN POLITICO Senate Democrats have voted to allow Joseph Lieberman to keep his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee -- despite his support for John McCain and criticism of Barack Obama during the presidential race.

RICHMOND A federal lawsuit over late-arriving absentee ballots from soldiers and citizens will proceed without the John McCain presidential campaign, which initiated it. The Department of Justice instead will become the plaintiff in the suit against state election officials that could determine whether those ballots will be counted, or set a precedent for future elections.

RICHMOND A federal judge has removed the McCain campaign as the plaintiff in a lawsuit that seeks to compel Virginia election officials to count late absentee ballots from U.S. troops serving outside the state.

RICHMOND A hearing is set for this afternoon on a lawsuit that seeks to compel Virginia election officials to count late absentee ballots from U.S. troops serving overseas.

VIRGINIA BEACH Leaders in the black community are convinced the city’s voting system is keeping their candidates from winning a seat on City Council. In a city where about 20 percent of 433,000 residents are black, only two have been elected in its 35-year history – John L. Perry in the 1980s and Louisa Strayhorn (1994- 98).

LOCAL TV STATIONS pulled in millions this year from election ads, profiting from Barack Obama's huge campaign bankroll and Virginia's emergence as a battleground state. "We envisioned it to be a big year, but it was bigger than we expected," said Doug Davis, president and general manager of WAVY-TV 10, the NBC affiliate, and Fox 43 (WVBT).

WASHINGTON Your nation's capital is throwing a party, and it looks like pretty much everyone in Virginia wants to come. With more than 26,000 requests for tickets to President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration already in hand, U.S. Sen. Jim Webb pleaded with colleagues Thursday to give next-door-neighbor Virginia special consideration in ticket allocations for the Jan. 20 ceremony.

WASHINGTON Your nation’s capital is throwing a party, and it looks like pretty much everyone in Virginia wants to come. With more than 26,000 requests for tickets to President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration already in hand, U.S. Sen. Jim Webb pleaded with colleagues Thursday to give next-door-neighbor Virginia special consideration in ticket allocations for the Jan. 20 ceremony.

RICHMOND - Gov. Timothy M. Kaine on Wednesday ruled out becoming the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee. “I’m not interested in it as long as I’m governor,” Kaine said during a news conference.

Republicans have set Nov. 29 as the date for a canvass to select the party’s nominee for a special election to fill the state legislature seat vacated by former Del. Terrie L. Suit, R-Virginia Beach.

Republicans have set Nov. 29 as the date for a canvass to select the party’s nominee for a special election to fill the state legislature seat vacated by former Del. Terrie L. Suit, R-Virginia Beach.

 CHESAPEAKE Jimmy Carter was the last Democratic presidential candidate to win over Chesapeake voters. That was 1976. So it surprised a few people when Barack Obama edged by Republican John McCain in Chesapeake last week by 1,369 votes.

Glenn Nye, the 34-year-old former foreign service officer, will head to Washington as one of the youngest members in the House of Representatives - the average age is 55 - and become part of the expanded Democratic majority.

RICHMOND The State Board of Elections is investigating third-party voter drives after election officials across Virginia have raised concerns that such groups may have failed to deliver registration forms to the board. Board officials said in a release Friday that potential voters may have lost the chance to cast their ballots on Tuesday because their registrations weren't turned in on time.

VIRGINIA BEACH A final, unofficial count of votes released this afternoon confirmed Will Sessoms unseated longtime Mayor Meyera Oberndorf by 6,843 votes. The results showed 200,754 voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s election, a turnout of nearly 70 percent of the city’s registered voters. Sessoms garnered 74,305 votes, compared with Oberndorf’s 67,462.

VIRGINIA BEACH A final, unofficial count of votes released this afternoon confirmed Will Sessoms unseated longtime Mayor Meyera Oberndorf by 6,843 votes. The results showed 200,754 voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s election, a turnout of nearly 70 percent of the city’s registered voters. Sessoms garnered 74,305 votes, compared to Oberndorf’s 67,462.

 VIRGINIA BEACH Thelma Drake conceded the race for the 2nd Congressional District late Thursday night. Drake released a statement after partial absentee ballot returns late Thursday gave Democrat Glenn Nye a more commanding lead. Nye garnered about 4,000 more absentee votes than Drake. About 600 absentee ballots remained to be counted due to a counting machine malfuction.

CHESAPEAKE With absentee ballots added to the presidential tally, the city of Chesapeake appears to have voted for Barack Obama. Earlier published reports used incomplete election data from the Chesapeake registrar’s office on Tuesday night and indicated the city had gone in favor of John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee.

CHESAPEAKE With absentee ballots added to the presidential tally, the city of Chesapeake appears to have voted for Barack Obama. Earlier published reports used incomplete election data from the Chesapeake registrar’s office on Tuesday night and indicated the city had gone in favor of John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee.

SUFFOLK Election officials finished counting about 4,600 absentee ballots today, allowing for a final tally of results in the mayor’s race. The new numbers didn’t change the order of how the seven candidates finished. The winner, Linda Johnson, eked by Dwight Nixon in absentee ballots by a count of 1,140 to 1,131, adding to her sizeable lead from Tuesday night.