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David Sherfinski

dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com

David Sherfinski covered politics for The Washington Times.

Articles by David Sherfinski

Tim Kaine

Senate control looms large over Virginia’s Allen-Kaine contest

At last year's 63rd Shad Planking, Virginia's annual spring confab for politicos and potential candidates to see and be seen, Gov. Bob McDonnell joked that Tim Kaine and George Allen were "two guys running for a job that neither one of them really wants. What a battle that's going to be."

October 31, 2012
President Obama has been campaigning often in Virginia. Some of the 2008 Obama magic is gone, and some down-ballot Democrats are keeping their distance. (Associated Press)

Down ticket, few reach for Obama’s coattails

President Obama's hope-and-change coalition powered his party to wins up and down the ticket in 2008, but the campaign this year has taken on a far more self-serving focus, as both Mr. Obama's campaign and his fellow Democrats see benefits in keeping their space from each other.

October 30, 2012
A voter collects her "I Voted Today" sticker after voting early at Judiciary Square in Washington on Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012. According to site officials, some 2,400 people have voted here since Monday, when the voting opened. The District of Columbia will open seven more early-voting sites on Saturday (one in each ward), which will be open daily except Sundays until Nov. 3 from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

Officials give early voters an extension

Early and absentee voting will proceed Wednesday in the District, Maryland and Virginia after being disrupted by Hurricane Sandy Monday and Tuesday, and all three jurisdictions have extended voting hours to make up for time lost.

October 30, 2012
Workers with Zamudio's Complete Tree Service load branches from a downed tree into a shredder on Cameron Mills in the Beverly Hills neighborhood of Alexandria, Va., on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012. Hurricane Sandy brought down two large trees here, one of which fell across the street. The trees took down the power lines. Fortunately no one was hurt. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

McDonnell: Virginia ‘very blessed’ that storm damage was not worse

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said Tuesday that, while there was still clean-up to do, the worst of Hurricane Sandy had passed through the state and the commonwealth was "very blessed" that the damage was not as extensive as in places like New Jersey and New York.

October 30, 2012
President Obama, after a briefing on Hurricane Sandy with Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Craig Fugate (right), said, “My message to the governors, as well as to the mayors, is: ‘Anything they need, we will be there.’ (Associated Press)

Hurricane forces candidates to drop events

The arrival of Hurricane Sandy one week before Election Day has forced both presidential campaigns to shuffle schedules, but the massive "Frankenstorm" has particularly complicated the final push by Team Obama, cutting into the president's campaign time and raising concerns among his advisers over voter turnout -- especially in deadlocked Virginia.

October 28, 2012
Republican Senate candidate George Allen plays corner hole with his daughter, Taylor, 24, before a Washington Redskins game in Landover, Md., Oct. 14. (Craig Bisacre/The Washington Times)

Virginia Senate race tops in outside spending

The U.S. Senate contest in Virginia between Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican George Allen is far and away the most expensive Senate race in the country in terms of third-party spending, underscoring the closeness of a race that's essentially been tied from the outset and its importance in determining which party will control the chamber come January.

October 25, 2012
First lady Michelle Obama talks about getting out the vote during a campaign rally in Oct. 19 in Racine, Wis. About 2,500 people gathered to see her speak at Memorial Hall. (Journal Times via Associated Press)

Wives fiery and firm in presidential campaigning

First lady Michelle Obama has become a fierce campaigner in her husband's re-election bid, regularly striking out on her own to defend him and urge voters to give him another four years to complete their agenda.

October 25, 2012

Attorneys and former judges criticize decision to retry Va. man

Fifty-nine current or former attorneys, judges and members of the legal community are criticizing the appointment of a special prosecutor in the case of a Chantilly man whose death sentence was recently vacated by a federal court as hasty and suggested Prince William County prosecutors may have had an untoward influence on his decision to re-try the case within 24 hours of his appointment.

October 25, 2012
Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II has been asked by the state’s Board of Elections to investigate potential violations of election laws after a man was charged last week. (The Washington Times)

Board asks Cuccinelli to look at voter fraud case

The Virginia State Board of Elections has requested that Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II investigate potential violations of state election laws after a Pennsylvania man was charged with 13 counts of voter-registration fraud in Harrisonburg last week.

October 24, 2012
**FILE** Rep. James P. Moran, Virginia Democrat

Rep. Moran’s son caught on tape, quits staff

U.S. Rep. James P. Moran's son Patrick resigned from his father's campaign after being caught on camera earlier this month appearing to give advice on how to commit voter fraud to a conservative video journalist.

October 24, 2012
Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock makes a point in Indianapolis on Wednesday, at a news conference at which he sought to clarify what he meant by remarks on rape he made in a debate the night before. (Associated Press)

Indiana Senate candidate apologizes, explains rape comment

U.S. Senate candidate Richard Mourdock apologized Wednesday to anyone who misinterpreted his statement during a Tuesday night debate that "even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, it is something that God intended to happen," but the move did little to quell the drumbeat of Democrats quickly trying to tie the comments to Mitt Romney, who recently taped an ad endorsing Mr. Mourdock.

October 24, 2012
** FILE ** Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Virginia Democrat, conducts a town-hall event in Springfield, Va., in September 2010. (AP Photo, File)

Virginia lawmakers seek wider probe in voting sign-up

Three Virginia congressmen have asked U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to launch a multistate investigation into "voter registration irregularities" after a Pennsylvania man was charged with 13 counts of voter registration fraud in Harrisonburg last week.

October 23, 2012
** FILE ** Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate seat from Virginia, former Gov. Tim Kaine, left, listens as Republican candidate, former Sen. George Allen, right, speaks during a debate at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

In final debate, Kaine, Allen exchange biggest shots

George Allen and Tim Kaine, both former governors of Virginia, immediately tossed away their gloves in the final debate in their closely watched U.S. Senate race, throwing haymakers and lobbing charges that each is an immutable partisan and misguided on the economy, spending, and defense.

October 18, 2012
Dr. Karen Remley. Photo from Virginia Department of Health

Va. Health Commissioner resigns over abortion clinic regulations

Virginia Health Commissioner Karen Remley resigned her position Thursday over controversial abortion clinic regulations that have been a political lightning rod since the General Assembly passed legislation in 2011 directing the Board of Health to craft them.

October 18, 2012

Discarded filled-out voter forms in Virginia spur probe

Virginia officials are probing a case in which completed voter-registration forms were said to have been tossed into a trash bin outside of a store in the Shenandoah Valley just before Monday's 5 p.m. registration deadline — the latest incident in what's already been a rather eventful election year in the Old Dominion.

October 17, 2012
Delegate Robert G. Marshall (AP Photo/Richmond Times-Dispatch, Bob Brown).

Virginia bill targets sex-selective abortions

A Virginia lawmaker has introduced a bill to ban abortions based on the sex of the fetus after a Republican effort in the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year to force Democrats into an uncomfortable vote on whether to criminalize the practice of so-called "sex-selective abortion."

October 16, 2012

Wait list for Virginia AIDS program eliminated

Virginia's first-ever waiting list for its AIDS drug assistance program for low-income individuals has been eliminated in less than two years thanks to a boost in funding, a host of cost-saving maneuvers, and partnerships among local, state and federal groups.

October 15, 2012

Virginia pro-lifers try to tug at hearts of voters

A new pro-life super PAC has launched a six-figure ad buy in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia targeting President Obama on abortion, while outside groups on the left are stepping up their own attacks on Republican U.S. Senate candidate George Allen on the same issue but at the opposite end of the spectrum.

October 11, 2012
Larry Flynt

In porn industry poll, Obama wins in 5-to-1 landslide

Mitt Romney may have famed porn star Jenna Jameson on his side, but the pornography industry is backing President Obama’s re-election by an overwhelming margin, according to an industry poll conducted by the media organization XBIZ.

October 11, 2012