Governor acknowledges talks with attorney general candidate

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has acknowledged that his office discussed plans for a legislative special session to change state laws on how evidence is presented in court with attorney general candidate Steve Shannon and a member of his campaign.

Kaine's office previously said it did not have any "public records" of recent contact between the administration and the campaigns of statewide Democratic candidates, including Shannon.

The Virginian-Pilot recently reported on open-records requests the newspaper made to determine whether coordination between several state government offices and political campaigns had occurred this year. Among the records sought were e-mails and phone records.

The governor disclosed the communication in a Monday afternoon conference call organized to defend Shannon against an attack ad sponsored by Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli.

In the ad, Cuccinelli suggests Shannon failed to see the impact of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that placed a burden on prosecutors to present live testimony from forensic scientists during trials instead of an evidence analysis report.

Fearing the ruling would cause drunken-driving and drug cases to be tossed out of court, Cuccinelli lobbied for a special session of the General Assembly. Kaine convened a one-day session Aug. 19.

Kaine called Cuccinelli's ad "completely false," saying Shannon and his campaign manager, Mike Henry, were in contact with administration officials about the session early on.

Kaine spokesman Gordon Hickey reiterated that the administration properly responded to The Pilot's record request.

- Julian Walker, The Pilot

Former mayor supports Tata

VIRGINIA BEACH

Former Mayor Meyera Oberndorf has endorsed her Kempsville neighbor, Bob Tata, for the House of Delegates. Tata has represented the 85th House District since 1984. Oberndorf was the city's mayor for more than 20 years, until January.

"When there were issues of importance to the city, Bob was right there," Oberndorf said. "If he think's it's the right thing, he'll reach across the aisle and get other people to support it."

Tata, a Republican, is running against Constitution Party candidate French Mackes in the Nov. 3 election.

- Lauren Roth, The Pilot