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Virginia Democrats are hoping to build on their slim majority in the state Senate by picking up a seat currently held by one of the most conservative legislators in the statehouse, Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli III (R).

Buoyed by big wins in November, Republicans, on the other hand, are confident that they can hold on to the District 37 Senate seat during the Jan. 12 special election.

The opposing views of the parties' nominees are a microcosm of Virginia politics.

Del. David Marsden (D-Dist. 41), said he wants to make the leap to the Senate to be a part of the moderate majority in that chamber, which balks at cutting education dollars and has historically favored generating new revenues for transportation rather than shifting existing funds.

Marsden, 61, grew up in Annandale and now lives in Burke. He is a juvenile justice expert who worked with youth in the Fairfax County court system for decades.

Republican Stephen Hunt, a former at-large member of the Fairfax County School Board, said he supports the platform that Gov.-elect Robert F. McDonnell (D) and Cuccinelli ran on this year.

Hunt, 51, is a Fairfax Station resident and works at defense contractor SAIC.

A small-government conservative, Hunt sees opportunity in the pending budget challenges.

"You're not going to be able to keep everything they put in place over the last 10 years. ... That budget was unsustainable," Hunt said, explaining that he sees the tough times as a chance for government to refocus on meeting basic needs.

Marsden said his top priorities for the coming session are "making sure that our state is investing in the right things," such as education and transportation, and "making sure that we're focused on this economic recovery."

Supporting education and transportation spending while keeping taxes level is imperative to restoring property values and keeping Northern Virginia's economy moving, Marsden said.

Yet Hunt believes voters are clearly showing they are fed up with government spending.

"Government is there to perform certain roles, but the greatness that we have as a nation comes from a spirit of the American people. We need to unleash that now," Hunt said.

In addition to the general challenge of getting voters to listen to their messages during a roughly six-week campaign that largely will take place during the winter holiday season, both Hunt and Marsden offer easy targets for their opponents.

Marsden, who was narrowly elected to a third delegate term in November, just moved into the Senate district, from one end of Burke to the other, before Thanksgiving. He said he could not pass up the opportunity to run.

"When you tell people you're going to do everything you can to fight for them in Richmond, you can't pass up an opportunity like this," he said.

While on the School Board, Hunt was unanimously censured by his colleagues in 2005 after he sent letters to the principals of every county high school encouraging them to include information from ex-gays in lessons about homosexuality. He later apologized for sending the letter.

Hunt served one term on the School Board and was not re-elected in 2007.