Perhaps the least popular governor in the country will headline a fundraiser next month for Creigh Deeds, a Democrat running for governor of Virginia. The Raleigh News & Observer reports that North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue (D) is scheduled to appear with Deeds Oct. 1 at the Capital City Club in downtown Raleigh, with suggested campaign contributions of $500 a head.

Perdue, elected governor last year after winning two terms as lieutenant governor, came to office facing a down economy and a dismal state fiscal situation. As a result, the governor has faced three months of job approval ratings in the 20s, according to surveys by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic polling firm. Her 26 percent approval rating in September includes just 40 percent of Democrats and 22 percent of independents.

Still, the cash will come in handy for Deeds as he heads into the final month of a competitive campaign against Bob McDonnell, who defeated Deeds by fewer than 400 votes in the 2005 race for attorney general. Deeds currently trails McDonnell by double digits in the polls and trailed by $4 million in cash raised heading into the general election.

The latest campaign finance reports will be released tomorrow. Both have clearly raised tons of money -- as this is one of only two major races this year and both national political parties are heavily invested -- and both are running TV ads in the expensive Washington, D.C., media market, which covers voter-heavy Northern Virginia.

(Last night during "Mad Men" on AMC, commercials from the two candidates ran successively -- one positive spot from McDonnell that featured his family; one negative spot from Deeds that featured McDonnell's 1989 grad school thesis.)

According to the Virgina Public Access Project, McDonnell has received nearly $2 million from the Republican Governors Association and $1.5 million from the Republican National Committee. Deeds has pulled in $500,000 from both the Democratic Governors Association and the Democratic National Committee, as well as $500,000 from the AFSCME and $100,000 from the SEIU.