The number of candidates eyeing the late Sen. Emily Couric's 25th district seat has expanded to include three local Republicans and five Democrats.
The special election to fill Couric's vacant state senate seat will be held Dec. 18.
Republican Sharon L. Jones of Albemarle County became the second candidate to formally announce her intent to run Tuesday, following Democratic City Council member Meredith Richards' announcement Monday.
Jones, chairwoman of the state's Child Day-Care Council, will compete with two other potential candidates, Jane Maddux and Ken Boyd, for the Republican nomination at a Nov. 17 mass meeting.
Maddux, who lost to Couric in the 1999 general election for the senate, said she soon will announce her intent to run for the GOP bid to fill the remaining two years of Couric's four-year term.
Citing his experience with education and finance as an asset, Boyd, an elected Albemarle School Board member, said he plans to announce his decision early next week.
"My background as a financial planner has prepared me to understand budget problems," Boyd said.
The Democratic lineup changed Tuesday after Charlottesville Mayor Blake Caravati dropped out of consideration for the race to support former mayor Nancy O'Brien.
"Nancy is the most viable candidate and had a wonderful tenure as mayor," Caravati said. "Her biggest asset is building consensus - exactly what is needed in the legislature right now."
Former Mayor Frank Buck, Delegate R. Creigh Deeds of Bath County, and Al Weed of Nelson County all plan to announce soon their decision whether to compete with Richards for the Democratic nomination. Democrats will hold a mass meeting Nov. 10 to select a candidate.
A group of Couric's closest advisers met Sunday with Deeds, a 10-year veteran of the House, and offered their support in his bid for the seat. Deeds said he would not make a decision until after the Nov. 6 general election.
Weed, who runs a Nelson County vineyard and lost the nomination to Couric six years ago, said he formally would announce his decision to run on Friday, along with O'Brien.
Buck said he is considering seriously the bid and will make his decision some time this week.
The new 25th district covers territory from northeastern Albemarle to Glenmore in Western Buckingham and west to Bath and Alleghany counties along the West Virginia line. The former district included voters from Greene, Madison, western Orange and western Albemarle counties.
Couric, who served six years in the Senate and six years on the Charlottesville School Board, died Oct. 18 of pancreatic cancer.
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