CHRISTIANSBURG -- A Christiansburg lawyer and former assistant prosecutor in Pulaski and Montgomery counties declared herself a contender Friday for the Democratic candidacy for the 7th District House of Delegates seat, now held by Del. Dave Nutter, R-Christiansburg.

Peggy Frank told an enthusiastic crowd at the Montgomery County Government Center that she has been considering a run since March, when she attended a Blacksburg reception for U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, and someone asked if any Democrats were going to run in the 7th District.

"That's when, I think, the first seed was planted," she said.

In talking to people in the district, she said she was encouraged to become a candidate. She said she found people in the district have concerns over economic development, especially where companies have closed or downsized, and a lack of progress on state transportation needs by the Republican majority in the General Assembly.

"As a business major, lawyer and prosecutor, I believe I can use my experiences to break through the gridlock in Richmond," she said.

"It's time to move away from polarization in the House and towards bipartisan solutions," she said. "The current lack of progress in key areas is no longer acceptable. Our children should not have to pay in the future for the majority's mistakes and shortcomings today."

Nutter, economic development coordinator at Virginia Tech, was first elected to the seat in 2001. He defeated veteran Del. Jim Shuler, D-Blacksburg. Shuler subsequently won election to the 12th District House seat.

"It has been an honor to serve the citizens of the 7th District as their representative in the House of Delegates. I am proud of my record of service during the past six years," Nutter wrote in an e-mail Friday from Richmond, where the General Assembly is in session. He said he looks forward to taking a positive, issue-oriented message to voters in the fall.

The district includes part of Montgomery County, and Radford, along with the Hiwassee and Snowville areas and parts of Dublin in Pulaski County.

Frank was introduced by Bill Brown, who was Blacksburg's police chief for 12 years until his retirement in June.

"We know what we have now, but look at what we can have," Brown said.

Frank and her husband, Marshall, have lived in the area for 20 years and have three children. She earned a business administration degree from East Carolina University in 1982 and her law degree at Campbell University in 1985.

Frank, who stressed family values, has been a Girl Scout leader for more than 10 years, a kindergarten soccer coach and a Cub Scout leader. She was an assistant commonwealth's attorney in Montgomery County for more than eight years and senior assistant prosecutor in Pulaski County for more than five years.

She now practices with the firm Frank & Wright, and works part time prosecuting domestic violence and sexual assault cases in Pulaski County.