Candidates finish campaigns with final bids for votes

Today, the people speak.

In polling places across the Virginia, voters will decide the state's direction as they cast ballots for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and all 100 seats in the House of Delegates.

Yesterday, Democratic and Republican statewide candidates hopscotched the state to make last-minute appeals in Virginia's population centers.

Flanked by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and other statewide and local officials, Democratic gubernatorial nominee R. Creigh Deeds, lieutenant governor nominee Jody Wagner and attorney general nominee Stephen C. Shannon rallied students and party activists at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell, joined by Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and attorney general nominee Ken Cuccinelli, sought to fire up supporters during a rush-hour rally at a hangar at Richmond International Airport.

The stop was part of a campaign swing that also took McDonnell to Alexandria, Bristol, Charlottesville, Roanoke, Abingdon and Virginia Beach. Deeds made stops in Roanoke, Charlottesville, Richmond and Alexandria.

This morning Deeds, a state senator from rural Bath County, will vote there and make an appearance in Charlottesville before heading to a hotel outside Richmond to watch the returns.

McDonnell, a former state attorney general, will vote near his home in Glen Allen before heading to the Mount Vernon section of Fairfax County, where he grew up, and Virginia Beach, which he served as a delegate for 14 years. He'll end his day by waiting for the results in downtown Richmond.

Recent polls show double-digit leads for Republicans in the three statewide offices, pointing to a GOP sweep in a state that has elected two Democratic governors in a row.

Deeds and the Democrats have been fighting the headwinds of a sour economy and anxiety over President Barack Obama's health-care proposals. McDonnell and Republicans benefited from a unified party hungry for a victory and from a cash advantage to spend on advertising in the homestretch.

Republicans hope House of Delegates candidates can ride the coattails to add to their majority. Republicans now hold 53 seats, Democrats 45. Two independents usually vote with the Republicans.

Yesterday, though, neither side was willing to bask in victory or concede defeat.

"The only polls that count open at 6 a.m.," an animated Deeds told the VCU crowd of about 200 students and activists.

"The work's not finished. The work goes on and on and on," he continued. "You give us the next 30 hours, and we're going to give you four years of progress like we've never seen."

Kaine, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, noted that he and other Virginia Democrats have a recent history of being counted out and coming back to win.

"Sometimes you're the underdog, sometimes they have more money, sometimes the polls look better for them, sometimes the pundits are more favorable to them," Kaine said. "But come Election Day, we have something they don't have -- and that's you!"

About 300 people attended the Republican rally at the airport hangar. McDonnell was introduced by his oldest daughter, Jeanine, who also sang the national anthem.

Warning against overconfidence, Cuccinelli noted that he and McDonnell had won their most recent elections after a recount. McDonnell beat Deeds in the attorney-general race in 2005 by 360 votes, the closest statewide race in history.

"It's another 25 hours and 10 minutes until the polls close, but who's counting?" said Cuccinelli, a state senator from Fairfax County.

McDonnell noted that Republicans had made 143,000 phone calls Sunday and knocked on 111,000 doors.

"We've dismounted and are fighting on foot," said Chesterfield County activist Wayne Ozmore.

In another development, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made a long-awaited entry into the Virginia governor's race via an automated call to as many as 350,000 state residents urging them to vote.

The calls are among about 600,000 coordinated through the Virginia Faith and Freedom Coalition, said state Sen. Stephen H. Martin, R-Chesterfield, chairman of the coalition. It is an affiliate of a national group organized by Ralph Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition.

Martin said the coalition does not endorse candidates or parties. He said Palin, the GOP's 2008 vice-presidential nominee, talks about "shared principles" in her call.

A spokesman for McDonnell said: "It's not our call."

Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061 or .

Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or .

Staff writer Olympia Meola contributed to this report.