Democrats Continue Candidate Search for 16th District Seat

With the 2012 election approaching, Simsbury Democrats are still searching for candidates to join the race for the 16th Assembly District seat.

In February, incumbent State Representative Linda Schofield announced that she would not seek re-election this fall.

State Elections Enforcement Commission Attorney Josh Foley said the Schofield for Representative exploratory committee was the only Democratic committee to file an application. Schofield's committee filed on January 30 and terminated the application on March 9.

"At this point we've got a couple of folks interested," Simsbury Democratic Town Comittee Chair Jeff Tindall said. Tindall was not prepared to disclose who the potential candidates were but said he expects an announcement in the near future.

Simsbury resident and Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Charity Folk announced that she would seek the Republican nomination to run for the seat last month.

"We're looking forward to a good race," Tindall said. "We want to continue to build on the great work done by Linda Schofield."

Tindall said it will be an important race for the Democrats since Schofield was the first in the party to hold the seat since 1971. Party officials say they are feeling optimistic about their chances this fall.

"We're in a great spot and we've proven that residents of Simsbury believe in the Democratic Party," Tindall said.