Democrat Patrick Lewis, a lawyer and businessman, has initiated a 2010 U.S. House campaign to challenge long-entrenched Virginia Republican Rep. Frank R. Wolf.

Lewis will try to make the case that it is time for a change. But he has picked a tough target in Wolf, the 15-term incumbent from the state's 10th District and a politically dominant figure for three decades in the northern Virginia suburbs and exurbs of Washington, D.C.

"Now more than ever, northern Virginia needs real leadership to tackle the problems facing our community and our country," Lewis said in a press release that announced his formation of an "exploratory" committee, a move that is usually a precursor to a formal campaign.

He said that he looked forward "to putting my experience of military service, job creation, and business management to work for the people of northern Virginia."

If Republicans fail to unseat freshman Virginia Democratic Rep. Glenn Nye next year, it won't be because of a lack of interest.

Scott Taylor, a businessman and former Navy SEAL, announced his candidacy Tuesday, becoming the sixth Republican to make preparations to seek the seat in southeastern Virginia's 2nd District.

These half-dozen candidates are competing for the nomination to challenge Nye, a former international development official whose 2008 victory over Republican Rep. Thelma Drake -- by a 5 percentage-point margin -- came in his first bid for public office.

Taylor, in a video on his campaign Web site, says that "as your congressman, I'll work to protect traditional values, guard our 2nd Amendment rights, decrease the tax burden for individuals and businesses, and do everything I can to strengthen our free market system."

Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the No. 2 ranking Republican in the U.S. House, has drawn a 2010 election challenge from Democrat Charlie Diradour, a real estate developer.

In a video posted on his campaign Web site, Diradour came out swinging against Cantor, the House minority whip, who is in his fifth term representing the precincts of central and north-central Virginia that comprise the state's 7th District.

Diradour chastised Cantor for being captured on TV consulting his Blackberry during President Obama's health care address to Congress last week, calling the incumbent a "card-carrying member of those who make up the most pampered, out-of-touch and politically rude class of elite Washington politicians in this country's history."

In a sign of Republican concern over Sen. Richard Burr's re-election chances, Burr's friend and Senate colleague, John McCain, is now running Google ads pumping the North Carolina freshman.

As first spotted by the Charlotte News and Observer, a Google search of "Richard Burr" brings up a sponsored link from McCain's Country First political action committee -- "Richard Burr NC Senator," it reads, followed by "Join John McCain's Country First to Support Candidates like Burr!"

The link leads to the PAC's Supported Candidates page.

A bill that would set mortgage standards and aims to curb predatory lending practices was easily passed by the House Thursday on a 300-114 vote, with the support of all but three participating members of the Democratic majority, as well as 60 Republicans.

And the measure proved popular with members from partisan swing districts.

Of the 34 Republican lawmakers from districts that split their tickets to back Democrat Barack Obama in the 2008 election, 25 (or 74 percent) voted for the bill.

The bill was drew much less support, on a percentage basis, from members whose districts went Republican both for president and the House last year. "Aye" votes were cast by just 35 of the 144 Republicans (24 percent) from districts that favored Republican John McCain over Obama.

The April 15 deadline to file campaign finance reports also applied to the four major candidates for the Virginia governorship this year. The three Democrats and one Republican combined to raise $8 million in the first three months of the year.

A majority of those funds was raised by Terry McAuliffe ($4.2 million), who whetted his fundraising skills as the chairman for the Democratic National Committee and as a longtime strategist for Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Benefiting from Virginia's lack of limits on political contributions, McAuliffe reported 20 contributions of at least $50,000 that cumulatively totaled $1.85 million -- or close to half of his total take for the reporting period. He received $251,000 from Haim Saban, the president of an eponymous entertainment company, and $250,000 from producer Steve Bing. Both men also gave generously to the Democratic Party during McAuliffe's DNC years.

Terry McAuliffe, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, raised $4.2 million in this year's first quarter as he seeks the Virginia governorship, his campaign said today.

McAuliffe's campaign released general figures one week ahead of an April 15 deadline, applicable to all candidates for governor, to release detailed information about their campaign donations and spending. McAuliffe's campaign said that he has raised about $5.2 million for the duration of his campaign from 3,440 donors, which comes out to an average contribution of about $1,500. McAuliffe had about $2.5 million left to spend as April began.

McAuliffe, who has raised campaign cash for the DNC and for Bill and Hillary Clinton, among other Democratic organizations and individuals, is expected to collect more campaign contributions than any other candidate in the Virginia governor's race. McAuliffe is running in a June 9 primary election along with former state Rep. Brian Moran and state Sen. Creigh Deeds; the Democratic winner will face Bob McDonnell, a former state Attorney General who is unopposed for the Republican nomination, in the Nov. 3 general election.

Tuesday's special election in New York's 20th District has received substantial national attention, though it's probably a mistake to read too much into the result of the balloting between Republican James Tedisco and Democrat Scott Murphy.

The most obvious reason is that the Obama administration is barely two months old and that 20 months remain until the 2010 midterm elections, which will be a much broader referendum on the president's policies and the Democratic-run Congress.

Moreover, a history of House special elections dating to 1968, which I compiled and posted on Greg's List, should also give pause to ascribing too much importance to the outcome of a low-turnout election in a district that voted narrowly for Barack Obama in the 2008 election.