CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA-WINA, – After some strongly contested democratic primaries, State  Senator Creigh Deeds, former Charlottesville School Board member Amy Laufer and current member of the Albemarle school board Katrina Callsen all emerged victorious on Tuesday evening.  Deeds held off a strong challenge from current 57th District Delegate Sally Hudson in the newly drawn 11th District Senate primary.  Deeds earned a narrow victory with 51% of the vote and 13, 436 votes compared to Hudson’s 12, 681 votes.  Hudson surprised a number of Democrats when she decided to leave her House of Delegates seat to pursue the state Senate.  She told WINA news that she wanted to pursue the office because the Senate is the policy engine of the General Assembly, and while she respected Senator Deeds, she did not feel he was progressive enough on certain issues.  However, in the end, Hudson suffered a narrow defeat, but also lost her current seat in the House of Delegates.

Meanwhile, after a highly contentious race in the 55th District primary, Amy Laufer easily defeated Kellen Squire taking 70% of the vote.  In the 54th, Katrina Callsen defeated both Dave Norris and Bellamy Brown to win the nomination earning 46% of the vote.  Given the nature of the district, Callsen will be the only name on the ballot in November, however Laufer has a Republican opponent in Albemarle resident Steve Harvey who announced his campaign on June 19th.