Election Day is exactly one week away, so call every Democrat you know in Virginia, and remind them to vote! Meanwhile, these are a few of the Virginia Delegate races making news this past week:

• HD-10: Democratic Minority Leader Ward Armstrong continues to set a good example for his fellow delegates by taking nothing for granted in his re-election campaign. Armstrong, who also serves as the DLCC’s Finance Chair, has sent word that he’ll be busing local constituents to a November 19th hearing on a proposed utility rate hike. Armstrong has spent more than a year leading opposition to the rate hike.
  
  

• HD-23: Democratic Delegate Shannon Valentine of Lynchburg just picked up a late endorsement from Preston Bryant, a prominent local Republican from the Lynchburg area. Bryant served ten years in the House of Delegates before joining Governor Kaine’s administration, but he sided with Valentine because of her strong record in the legislature and her opponent’s “distasteful campaign tactics.”
  
  

• HD-42: Several families of Virginia Tech shooting victims have come out against Republican Dave Albo’s re-election bid. The families believe Albo used political maneuvering to block a bill to close the gun-show loophole, despite his promise to support the legislation. And when the families asked Albo to explain his betrayal, he told them to “just forget it.” Albo’s Democratic challenger is Greg Werkheiser.
  
  

• HD-51, 52: U.S. Senator Jim Webb campaigned with 51st District Delegate Paul Nichols and 52nd District Democratic candidate Luke Torian (who’s running in an open seat) over the weekend. Both are considered key races in any scenario where Democrats reclaim a House majority.
  
  

• HD-99: Democratic Delegate Albert Pollard also earned a late endorsement from a well-respected local Republican, former State Senator John Chichester, who represented the area for nearly 30 years until 2007. Meanwhile, another group of 15 victims’ families from Virginia Tech and Appalachian School of Law has denounced Republican challenger Catherine Crabill for encouraging people to take up arms in the event of an election loss (the infamous "Bullet Box" speech).
  
  

• State Senate: The Richmond Times-Dispatch is looking past this Tuesday for clues about how the Virginia elections will affect the ballance of power in the State Senate. Three sitting Senators are running for other offices (Democrat Creigh Deeds and Republicans Ken Stolle and Ken Cuccinelli). Each of these seats would be filled by special election if the Senators win their elections next week. In addition, whoever wins the governorship may try to appoint Senators to his cabinet, triggering even more special elections.