Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli is looking to predecessors from both parties for guidance on running the state’s law office, as well as enlisting the lawyer who beat Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell in court on a transportation fix that was ruled unconstitutional. Cuccinelli, a Republican, announced yesterday that he selected as transition leaders former Attorneys General Andrew P. Miller, a Democrat; Republican Richard Cullen; and ex-state GOP Chairman Patrick M. McSweeney.

Bob McDonnell won nine of the state’s 11 congressional districts; only the 3rd and the 8th went for Creigh Deeds, and they are Democratic bastions. The GOP ticket prevailed from top to bottom. Bill Bolling easily won re-election as lieutenant governor. If one year ago an expert had predicted Ken Cuccinelli would be elected attorney general in a landslide, he would have lost his license to practice punditry.

Double-digit victories by Bob McDonnell, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and Ken Cuccinelli, the party’s nominee for attorney general, reversed a recent string of defeats for Republicans.

Virginia has elected Republican Ken Cuccinelli as its next attorney general, overwhelmingly favoring the state senator from Fairfax County who has pledged to protect the Virginia Constitution and the state’s right-to-work law. As polls had predicted, Cuccinelli won a crushing defeat over his Democratic opponent—and friend—Del. Stephen C. Shannon of Fairfax.

Republican Sen. Ken Cuccinelli was elected attorney general tonight over Democratic Del. Stephen C. Shannon in a battle between lawmakers from Fairfax County.

Virginians cast ballots for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and all 100 seats in the House of Delegates. Virginia, N.J. are the only states electing governors today.

Republican Bob McDonnell said yesterday that his jobs-and-economy theme has helped push him ahead, while Democrat R. Creigh Deeds continued promoting themes of education and transportation as the gubernatorial campaign headed into its final two days. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour joined McDonnell, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and GOP attorney general hopeful Ken Cuccinelli for yesterday’s first two stops in Springfield and Fredericksburg, before the trio headed to stops in Chesterfield County and Williamsburg.

Things are looking up for the Republicans’ down-ticket candidates, according to the latest poll for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

McDonnell Deeds The Republican statewide ticket rolled into the GOP heartland yesterday exuding confidence but urging stepped-up get-out-the-vote efforts. “Put up the last sign, talk to someone at the water cooler, send out another e-mail,“ gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell told about 75 Republicans crowded into the Homemades by Suzanne catering shop in Ashland.

Attorney general hopeful Ken Cuccinelli stepped offstage last week after a particularly heated debate with rival Stephen C. Shannon and quipped that people never would believe they are friends. They do get along and in some respects have moved in similar circles. Both attended Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C. Both attended the University of Virginia, though years apart.

Cuccinelli Shannon The final debate in the campaign for attorney general took on racial overtones yesterday as Democrat Stephen C. Shannon accused Republican Ken Cuccinelli of being “an ideological crusader” who favors states’ rights. Shannon, a delegate from Fairfax County, likened it to an agenda that produced some of Virginia’s worst movements, such as secession and the fight to maintain segregation.

The candidates for Virginia attorney general will meet today in a debate.

Television viewers can expect a large onslaught of political-campaign commercials over the next 16 days. In the race for governor, Democrat R. Creigh Deeds and Republican Bob McDonnell each raised more than $3.5 million in September, with McDonnell taking in $3.8 million and Deeds $3.5 million. But, for the final weeks of the campaign, McDonnell had cash on hand of $4.5 million, compared with Deeds’ $2.7 million.

Virginia’s Republican candidates for lieutenant governor and attorney general hold sizable leads over their Democratic opponents, but large swaths of voters remain undecided, according to a poll conducted for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, who is seeking re-election, led Democrat Jody Wagner 44 percent to 31 percent, with 25 percent undecided, in the survey conducted Tuesday to Thursday by Mason Dixon Polling & Research Inc.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and 2008 presidential candidate John McCain are coming to Virginia to help their parties’ candidates for governor. The Democratic vice president will help R. Creigh Deeds at a private fundraiser in Alexandria tomorrow. McCain, a Republican U.S. senator from Arizona, will help rally veterans to support Bob McDonnell at an Oct. 17 rally in Hampton Roads, which has a large population of veterans.