2009 Elections: Democrat Carole Pratt running for 6th District House Seat

Another Democrat hopes to ride a party wave of momentum, and take a Virginia House of Delegates seat away from an incumbent Republican.

9th District Congressman Rick Boucher introduced Democrat Carole Pratt at a news conference in front of Martin’s Pharmacy in Pulaski on Monday.  Pratt is running for the 6th District House seat, currently held by two-term incumbent Republican Delegate Anne Crockett-Stark.

At the news conference, Pratt said one reason she’s running is the vote by Republicans in the House of Delegates, that rejected $125 million in federal economic stimulus money for unemployment.  Pratt made the argument that unemployment in the district has nearly doubled in the past year, and one out of ten people in the region’s workforce don’t have a job because of the economic downturn.

House Republicans have previously argued that the conditions of that $125 million from the economic stimulus would created a future unfunded mandate for the state to have to pay.

Pratt countered that the $125 million would could a penny per day per worker, then attacked Crockett-Stark for voting with the Republican majority.  Pratt’s campaign handed out pennies to people in the audience to help illustrate her point.

Pratt says small businesses, like Martin’s Pharmacy help create jobs.  Pratt argued that for every person hired by Martin’s, 0.18 employees are generated in other businesses in the area.

Crockett-Stark defeated previous three-term incumbent Democrat Benny Keister back in November of 2005.  She was the first woman to serve on Wytheville Town Council, and the first woman to chair the Wythe County Board of Supervisors.