By BOB LEWIS
AP Political Writer

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Virginia's governor and Democratic National Committee chairman rejected a Republican bid to obtain records of his travel Friday.

State GOP chairman Pat Mullins requested copies of the governor's internal scheduling and travel records under the state's Freedom of Information Act. He also sought records for costs of taking the governor's security detail on DNC-related trips.

Mullins contends Kaine is doing party work on state time and used taxpayer dollars in support of it. Kaine says he works seven days a week, handling state work first along with his DNC duties.

Kaine's communications director, Lynda Tran, wrote in a three-page reply to Mullins that state FOI law exempts a "governor's working papers."

She also cited a 1991 state Supreme Court decision excusing then-Gov. L. Douglas Wilder from a an open records demand to turn over office telephone records. In that case, the court wrote that the disclosures would "unduly interfere" with a governor's duties, a consideration that trumped the public's right to know.

"Likewise, this rationale applies to your broad request for `any and all records pertaining to the daily schedule of the Governor,'" Tran wrote in her letter to Mullins, copies of which were made public minutes before the close of business Friday.

After a week of accusing Kaine of spending state tax money to advance the Democratic Party's agenda nationally and clamoring almost daily for an accounting, the GOP's response to Friday's denial was terse and muted.

"We will review the response over the weekend before commenting further," RPV spokesman Tim Murtaugh wrote in a press statement.

Public attention to the whereabouts of governors peaked after South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford disappeared for several days without his state-assigned protective detail last week. On Wednesday, he tearfully admitted in a news conference that he had flown to Argentina to visit a woman with whom he has had an affair.

"We have the perfect example of why it's important for people to know where a governor is traveling, and it's right down the road in South Carolina," said Megan Rhyne, executive director of the nonpartisan and nonprofit Virginia Coalition for Open Government.

"With Governor Kaine, it's also important because if he does pledge to keep the expenses from DNC separate, there has to be a way for people to verify for themselves whether he's actually doing that," Rhyne said.

The Associated Press on Friday filed a FOIA request for records of Kaine's travels from January through June. State law allows five working days for state officials to respond.

For years, governors of both parties have refused to disclose internal schedules and itineraries for past travel, all citing the "working papers" exemption, court precedent and unspecified security and privacy concerns.

Jim Gilmore, juggling duties as governor and Republican National Committee chairman eight years ago, was often outside Virginia on RNC business.

Democrats that year lampooned Gilmore's absences with a "Where's Gilmore" campaign. Reporters' requests to view his travel records were also rejected on the same grounds Kaine now cites.

Jay Timmons, who was chief of staff for Republican Gov. George Allen from 1994 to 1998, defended Kaine's decision to deny the RPV request.

"This is all process and procedure," Timmons said. "I think governors' offices should be judged on how they handle real-world problems."

Tran's letter said information about costs Executive Protection Unit agents incurred traveling with Kaine would have to come from the Virginia State Police, which keeps the records.

Kaine said in a radio interview Thursday that EPU agents to retain receipts for costs from traveling with him on DNC trips. He said the DNC will reimburse the state semiannually for them.

Kaine said the running tally for the slightly more than five months since President Barack Obama appointed him to head the DNC comes to about $10,000.