Here's a note from Mame Reiley

Imagine what it would mean if - this early in the campaign - a majority of the Virginia Democratic Party's top leadership endorsed a candidate for Governor.

Today, that happened when most of the members of the party's Steering Committee* endorsed Brian Moran for Governor. Read all about it.

Brian told me that he's "humbled by the strong support of some of Virginia's most prominent Democratic leaders."

Their support of Brian makes a lot of sense since he's been working with these individuals over the course of his 20 years in public service - winning elections with them, building bipartisan coalitions with them, and helping build a stronger Virginia for the next generation with them.

You probably remember that last week Brian received the support of the overwhelming majority of local elected Democrats in Loudoun County. They said Brian had the best shot to win critical swing counties in Virginia.

Today's endorsers said they are stepping up to support Brian because of his long record of service to the party and the fact that he's consistently led Democrats to victory all across the Commonwealth. They saw him work with Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, and they know he's the person to do the job next.

Del. Brian J. Moran is poised to collect endorsements for governor from the highest echelons of the state Democratic Party, while presumed rival Terry McAuliffe is being backed by one of Virginia's biggest political check-writers.

Moran today is scheduled to announce the support of nearly two-thirds of the Democratic Party's steering committee. Made up of district chairs and other senior Democrats, the committee largely governs the state party.

-Richmond Times Dispatch

This is a clear sign that Democratic leaders in Virginia want Brian to be our next Governor. I'm a member of that leadership, and I know he's the right guy for the job.

Read the response at the Washington Post, Richmond Times-Dispatch, and the Vivian Page blog.

Loudon County, a bellwether for the past 4 election cycles, is already going for Moran in the 2009 Governor's race. Yesterday at the Old Loudoun County Court House, Democratic leaders gathered to publicly endorse Brian Moran for Governor. The Washington Post's Loudon Extra spoke with some of the Democratic leadership in attendance.

"Loudoun is the key to victory in Virginia, and Loudoun Democrats know Brian Moran can win here," said Kelly Burk (Leesburg), a member of the Board of Supervisors. "We have to make sure that the Democratic nominee can win decisively in Northern Virginia and the suburbs. That's what it takes to win."

The officials represent about two-thirds of Loudoun's elected Democrats, including members of the Board of Supervisors, School Board and Leesburg Town Council, the Leesburg mayor and state legislators.

Leesburg Today also covered the event, as did Raising Kaine, and News 8

Here's a video of Brian on election day in Hampton Roads talking about the election and what he's doing to protect the vote:

Brian joined Northern Virginia Labor leaders to kick off the final canvass of the 2008 campaign on Saturday morning in Annandale. He spoke to the hundreds of volunteers about Barack Obama’s commitment to the middle class and to fighting for working Virginians.

You can see more pictures of the kickoff on Brian's Flickr album.

The Petersburg Progress-Index has a report on Brian's Monday campaign stop in Petersburg:

Moran has been campaigning for Obama for months. Last week, he launched a bipartisan effort in the General Assembly and urged both Democrats and Republicans to contact their constituents and make sure that all Virginia voters had the necessary information for Election Day.

Today, Moran — a lawyer and former prosecutor — will join Hampton Roads lawyers to visit various polling places to offer legal assistance to voters. In recent weeks, many households in Hampton received fliers falsely urging Democrats to vote on Wednesday instead of Tuesday.

“With the tactics of fear, intimidation and misinformation employed by those who want to stop Virginians from going to the polls on Election Day, I can’t think of a more important role to play than providing voter protection tomorrow,” Moran said yesterday. “I will spend the day making sure that every vote is counted.”