Saslaw on Pittsylvania race: 'Upsets can happen'

Is there peace in the valley between the Democrat's Senate majority leader and the party's candidate for the state senate from Pittsylvania county?

You'll recall that Sen. Dick Saslaw (D-Fairfax) declared in early November that the Democrats wouldn't field a candidate for the senate seat vacated by Republican Sen. Robert Hurt's election to Congress because the party didn't want to waste money running in an area so dominated by Republicans.

And then Pittsylvania Board of Supervisors Chairman Hank Davis Jr. responded au contraire--he'd been planning on running for the job as a Democrat for a while.

Well, Saslaw tells us he and Davis had a nice chat by phone on Tuesday.

"He's a hell of a nice guy," Saslaw said of the Chatham attorney. "He's very sincere. And he's been in public office a long, long time. His opponent's never been in public office."

But, Saslaw added, "I'm not sure that matters."

Davis will face lawyer Bill Stanley in the Jan. 11 special election.

The Senate majority leader hasn't exactly changed his assessment of the dynamics of the southside district. "It's a difficult district," he said. "The numbers aren't good. Can upsets happen? Upsets can happen. But it's not a good district."

Saslaw reiterated that the Senate caucus won't be sending any donations Davis' way. But he said some individual senators might help out. In fact, Saslaw said he's cut Davis a $1,000 campaign contribution.