The owners, er, campaign managers, of a Maine coon in Northern Virginia who waged a write-in campaign for U.S. Senate this year, are claiming a third-place finish of nearly 7,000 votes.

Former Gov. Tim Kaine won the U.S. Senate race in Virginia, keeping the seat in Democratic hands with the retirement of Sen. Jim Webb.

If you turn on your TV these days, you’re bound to be washed over by ads for everything from the presidential contest to whether or not Maryland should allow another casino.

President Obama’s newfound support for same-sex marriage has the potential to make significant impacts in elections this year in Maryland and Virginia.

Yesterday the world met Hank the Cat a feline prospect for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Virginia Democrat Jim Webb, who is retiring after one term. Fox 5 landed the in-person interview with the cat and his owner, er, campaign manager.

Tim Kaine and George Allen take warning: There’s a new candidate for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Virginia Democrat Jim Webb, and if our experience with Internet trends is any guidance, this new arrival on the political scene could be a real scene-stealer. A cat.

The race for Senate in Virginia got much more interesting today, as Democratic National Committee chair and former governor Tim Kaine announced that he would pursue the seat being vacated by current Sen. Jim Webb. Kaine, who has chaired the DNC since January 2009, will likely face former Sen. George Allen in what is already being touted as a key bellwether race during the national 2012 election cycle.

Senator Jim Webb, who won his seat in a big pickup for Democrats during the 2006 midterm elections, will not seek re-election in 2012, reports the Washington Times.

Mike Allen reports this morning that former Virginia governor and Senator George Allen “plans to tell supporters within a week” that he’ll be campaigning for the Senate seat currently held by Democrat Jim Webb. Webb defeated Allen in 2006 by a razor-thin margin, but questions have recently been raised about whether he will even run for re-election in 2012 due to a lack of fundraising. If Webb does decide to run, the race is predicted by many to be one of the most vigorous in the nation, especially as President Obama will look to hang on to the Old Dominion’s support.

In the world of politics, nearly every elected official or civic leader has at one point said something stupid, regrettable, insulting or downright confounding. But in recent years, well-known personalities in Virginia have had a disproportionate number of serious flubs, many of which have become national scandals. The mother of all these foot-in-the-mouth moments is surely George Allen’s infamous 2006 “macaca” comment. Caught on tape and beamed to a national audience via YouTube, the insensitive…