Published May 26, 2007 12:16 am - Brenda Scharlow has agreed to run against Democratic incumbent District 3 City Councilman Steve Price in the general election, filling the Republican Party s ballot vacancy there.
Many downtown residents will now have an extra choice to make Nov. 6.
Brenda Scharlow has agreed to run against Democratic incumbent District 3 City Councilman Steve Price in the general election, filling the Republican Party s ballot vacancy there.
That assumes that voting-precinct representatives nominate her at a caucus before a June 30 deadline, party chairman David Matthews said. No other candidates have emerged.
I think she d be a great candidate, Matthews said.
A steering committee of elected Republicans and other party leaders asked Scharlow last week to run and she agreed on Friday, Matthews said.
Scharlow opposed Regina Overton for the party s mayoral nomination in 1999; Overton won the nomination, then unseated Democratic incumbent Doug England in the fall.
Scharlow s husband, Larry, has twice sought the Democrats mayoral nomination, losing to eventual Mayor James Garner in 2003 and finishing third, behind England and Garner, this year.
We re both invested in the city and we re trying to make a change, said Brenda Scharlow, who renovated The Grand theater on Market Street into a convention center, then sold it in September. Scharlow has also sat on the boards of the Urban Enterprise Zone and Develop New Albany.
I think we just need somebody in there that will have a vision for the city, and I think I would be able to work with anybody elected to the council or mayor s office, she said.
In the previous two general elections, Democrats defeated Republican Jeffery Byrne in District 3. In 2003, political newcomer Price won with 793 votes to Byrne s 318.
I think anyone who believes in their cause should run, should vote. I m all for that, Price said when called after the Republicans announcement. She obviously has her beliefs .
.. and I have my philosophy.
Asked whether he was disappointed that he d now have to fund a general-election campaign, Price replied that he d long expected a challenge.
I had heard that they were possibly going to run an independent, so I figured there would definitely be someone running against me somewhere, Price said.
News RSS