BY JOHN BRESNAHAN POLITICO Senate Democrats have voted to allow Joseph Lieberman to keep his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee -- despite his support for John McCain and criticism of Barack Obama during the presidential race.

RICHMOND A federal lawsuit over late-arriving absentee ballots from soldiers and citizens will proceed without the John McCain presidential campaign, which initiated it. The Department of Justice instead will become the plaintiff in the suit against state election officials that could determine whether those ballots will be counted, or set a precedent for future elections.

VIRGINIA BEACH

Leaders in the black community are convinced the city’s voting system is keeping their candidates from winning a seat on City Council.

In a city where about 20 percent of 433,000 residents are black, only two have been elected in its 35-year history – John L. Perry in the 1980s and Louisa Strayhorn (1994- 98).

LOCAL TV STATIONS pulled in millions this year from election ads, profiting from Barack Obama's huge campaign bankroll and Virginia's emergence as a battleground state. "We envisioned it to be a big year, but it was bigger than we expected," said Doug Davis, president and general manager of WAVY-TV 10, the NBC affiliate, and Fox 43 (WVBT).

WASHINGTON Your nation's capital is throwing a party, and it looks like pretty much everyone in Virginia wants to come. With more than 26,000 requests for tickets to President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration already in hand, U.S. Sen. Jim Webb pleaded with colleagues Thursday to give next-door-neighbor Virginia special consideration in ticket allocations for the Jan. 20 ceremony.

Republicans have set Nov. 29 as the date for a canvass to select the party’s nominee for a special election to fill the state legislature seat vacated by former Del. Terrie L. Suit, R-Virginia Beach.

CHESAPEAKE Jimmy Carter was the last Democratic presidential candidate to win over Chesapeake voters. That was 1976. So it surprised a few people when Barack Obama edged Republican John McCain in Chesapeake last week by 1,369 votes.

Glenn Nye, the 34-year-old former foreign service officer, will head to Washington as one of the youngest members in the House of Representatives - the average age is 55 - and become part of the expanded Democratic majority.

The Virginia State Board of Elections said Friday it is investigating complaints that some voters may not have been able to cast ballots because their voter registrations were never submitted by third parties.

VIRGINIA BEACH

A final, unofficial count of votes released this afternoon confirmed Will Sessoms unseated longtime Mayor Meyera Oberndorf by 6,843 votes.

The results showed 200,754 voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s election, a turnout of nearly 70 percent of the city’s registered voters.

Sessoms garnered 74,305 votes, compared with Oberndorf’s 67,462.