A Democratic candidate has come forward to challenge Republican nominee Eric Phillips in the Jan. 9 special election for a House of Delegates seat that covers Martinsville and parts of Henry County.
Melody Cartwright of Martinsville announced Saturday she would seek the Democratic nomination. Cartwright, now retired, was a graphic/exhibit designer for 25 years with the Museum of Natural History in Martinsville. In a brief statement, Cartwright called herself “an activist for women’s rights” and said that “I have a list of positions I am passionate about, which voters in the district can find out about over the next three weeks.”
Cartwright said she was running “because my motto is ‘no election unopposed.’ To have a candidate just walk into the position without any contest seems undemocratic and unjust.”
The special election was triggered by the resignation of Del. Les Adams, R-Pittsylvania County, who said he was leaving the legislature “so that I may make myself available for another position of service.”
On Thursday, Republicans nominated Henry County businessman Eric Phillips in a hastily called mass meeting. Democrats in the district must act by Tuesday to confirm Cartwright as their nominee.
If either Cartwright or Phillips is elected, the winner would be the first legislator from Martinsville or Henry County since 2011, when Democrats Ward Armstrong and Roscoe Reynolds lost their reelection bids for the House and Senate to candidates from elsewhere.
The district voted 68.2% Republican in the 2022 congressional midterms and 67.8% Republican in the 2021 governor’s race, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
