Long-Rumored DPVA Shakeup Finally Comes to Pass: Brian Moran Out, Charniele Herring In as Chair

There have been rumors floating around about this for weeks (actually, months, come to think of it), butNot Larry Sabato has now officially broken the long-anticipated story of a major post-election shakeup at the Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA). This week, Brian Moran will be announcing his resignation as Chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia.Soon after, Charniele Herring will be announcing her candidacy for the position, with the public endorsements of Moran and Terry McAuliffe. Mark Warner has consented to McAuliffe picking the new party Chair which means it is certain that he will stay in the U.S. Senate and that McAuliffe will be the Democratic Nominee for Governor in 2013. Executive Director Dave Mills has already been asked to submit his resignation, and his position is going to be combined with the coordinated campaign director position next year. Personally, I'm just happy to see DPVA moving on, getting some new leadership, and gearing up for what's going to be a war in 2013 against the uber-villain, Ken Kookinelli. Should be fun!  Also, as much as I haven't been a Brian Moran fan, I must say that from what I've heard, he's done everything asked of him the past few months, and he DID quit his horrible "day job" a while back, so I'm feeling a bit better (less bad?) about him these days. Finally, congratulations to Del. Charniele Herring (D-Alexandria), who I'm confident will do an excellent job as DPVA Chair. As 10th CD Chair Charlie Jackson puts it,"I think she does a good job as House Whip. I think she's dedicated, progressive, has built relationships with Dem groups. I hope she can help us focus some more on what happens in Richmond." Oh, and I'd add that if the "powers that be" are wise, they should keep Clark Mercer on as political director, or better yet promote him to executive director. We'll see...P.S. Like Ben, I've also been hearing strong rumors that Mark Warner will NOT be running for governor next year. P.P.S. Stay tuned for some more interesting 2013-related news tomorrow Thursday! :)