Saturday, July 25, 2009
Democrats quiet on challenger for 8th District
General Assembly 2011
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The new Democratic candidate for the 8th District House of Delegates seat is scheduled to be revealed in front of the Roanoke County Courthouse at noon Monday.
But just who the party will back in the race against Del. Morgan Griffith has been kept quiet.
Prominent local Democrats have declined to identify the replacement for Ginny Weisz, the candidate who announced she was dropping out earlier this week.
"We have a very strong candidate forthcoming, who will be very impressive for this district," said Brian Lang, chairman of the party's Roanoke County committee.
One name has been floated on a local Republican blog this week, and has also been mentioned offline: Carter Turner.
"No comment," said the Glenvar resident and assistant professor at Radford University when asked if he'll replace Weisz as the Democratic candidate in the race.
Turner said he would be at Monday's announcement, though he also attended Weisz's announcement in June.
The Web site turnerfordelegate.com was registered Tuesday, though nothing has been posted on the page.
The 8th District includes Salem and part of Roanoke County.
The race took a turn Tuesday when Weisz announced she was pulling out to focus on her doctoral studies and work in rural health care.
-- Pete Dybdahl
