Candidates hoping to fill the late Emily Couric's state Senate seat were confirmed Saturday with the selection of Jane Maddux as the Republican candidate. Maddux, a local business woman, will match up against Bath County Del. R. Creigh Deeds, the Democratic nominee, in a special election that will be held on Dec. 18.
Sen. Emily Couric, who battled pancreatic cancer for over a year after diagnosis, passed away Oct. 18.
Saturday afternoon, Jane Maddux defeated challenger Sharon L. Jones for the GOP nomination which was held at Western Albemarle High School by a 3-to-1 margin said Keith C. Drake, chairman of the Albemarle County Republican Committee.
"It was a great turnout" especially for being on the same day as the Virginia-Virginia Tech game, Maddux said.
Deeds, the Democratic candidate, is head of the Democratic House caucus and just won re-election for his house seat in November.
Democrats and Deeds are hoping for a good turnout on election day, said William B. Harvey, chairman of the Albemarle Democratic Committee. "With [the election] being so close to the holidays ... we have to get people to vote instead of go shopping."
While the Republicans are hoping Maddux can pull out a victory against Del. Deeds, some experts have said that they see the odds stacked against Maddux.
"This is a Democratic district ... it's even more Democratic than the district that Emily Couric ran in," said Government and Foreign Affairs Prof. Larry J. Sabato, referring to Virginia's post-2000 census redistricting this year. "A Maddux win would be a major upset."
While a dark horse in some circles, Maddux does have some advantages over Deed, said Drake.
Two-thirds of the 25th district's population is from Charlottesville, where Maddux has lived for 25 years. "She is very in touch with the district ... and [that] makes her a logical choice to succeed Emily Couric," he said.
Deeds is from Hot Springs in Bath County, which represents approximately one-third of the district's population
Both candidates have stated that education is their main priorities in the upcoming election. Maddux said she would like to reduce class sizes and raise teacher salaries to help recruit the best teachers for Virginia schools.
Maddux was defeated when she ran against Couric in 1999 for the same Senate seat.
Deeds could not be reached for comment.
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