A Battle Royal for Control of Both Houses

Fairfax May Prove Key as Democrats Seek to Gain, and Republicans to Retain, Majorities

Let the battle begin.

With the 2007 legislative session behind them and the seats of all 140 delegates and senators up for election in the fall, Virginia Republicans and Democrats have started slugging it out for control of the General Assembly. Fairfax County could determine the outcome.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) and his allies hope to make significant inroads in the Republican-controlled House of Delegates and Senate. Democrats need to pick up four seats in the Senate and 11 in the House to regain power, a difficult task in an election that historically draws fewer voters to the polls than an even-year election.

But analysts are predicting a nasty, expensive campaign as Democrats try to build on their recent statewide successes at the same time Republicans are out to prove they still have the upper hand in historically conservative Virginia.

"It is going to be trench warfare," said Ray Allen, a longtime Richmond-based Republican strategist.

The hardest-fought contests could be in Fairfax, where three incumbent Republican state senators are gearing up for what could be the fight of their careers.

Democrats are targeting Republican Sens. Ken Cuccinelli II, Jeannemarie Devolites Davis and James K. "Jay" O'Brien Jr., who represent Fairfax districts where a majority of voters chose Kaine in 2005 and U.S. Sen. James Webb (D-Va.) last year.

The outcome of those races Nov. 6 could shape state policy and politics for more than a decade because this will be the last state Senate campaign before congressional and legislative redistricting in 2011.

If Republicans keep control of the House and Senate and win back the governor's mansion in 2009, the party will be able to draw the legislative and congressional district boundaries in a way that helps ensure that GOP incumbents dominate for the next decade.

To stop that from occurring, Kaine is teaming with other party leaders to pour at least $1 million into this fall's races.

Last month, Kaine, Webb, former governor Mark R. Warner, U.S. Reps. James P. Moran Jr. and Robert C. "Bobby" Scott and Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly met over dinner at a posh Washington restaurant to begin plotting a campaign strategy for Democrats.

"I enjoy the fact the Democratic Party was on the ropes until 2001 and now we are seen as a competitive party, and I want to make sure we stay there," Kaine said in an interview.