HERMON — Ralph Carr of Hermon was chosen Saturday morning to be the Democratic candidate for the unexpired District 124 seat formerly held by the late Robert Yackobitz, a Republican.

Carr, a guidance director at Hermon High School, ran against Sue Rudnicki, chairman of the Carmel Democratic Town Committee, and won by a 9-5 vote at the Democratic caucus held at the town office. He will run against Republican and former legislator Harry Rideout, who was chosen at a Republican caucus Thursday.

Carr said he intends to knock on a lot of doors in the month he has to campaign before the Nov. 7 election. Yackobitz, a former neighbor and friend of Carr’s, represented District 124, which comprises Hermon, Etna, Carmel, and a portion of Levant and Plymouth, until his death Sept. 22.

Carr, whose political experience involves service on the Hermon Town Council on and off for about 15 years, said he was persuaded to be a candidate.

Before the vote, Carr told the gathering that there are a lot of problems facing the Legislature, and “this election is a critical election.”

Rudnicki said she became involved in politics when she and her husband tried to get a law passed licensing well drillers. She said she had helped draft the legislation and lined up legislative support only to find later that some representatives who had promised to support the bill voted against it. The bill was defeated by two votes.

Clerk of the House Joseph Mayo told the assembly shortly after the vote that it is important for the election to be run locally, not by Augusta.

George Cyr, chairman of the Hermon Democratic Town Committee, was elected chairman and Brenda Downey, secretary, of the party’s caucus Saturday.

Cyr called on party members to offer financial support to Carr to pay for posters and radio and television advertisements.

Cyr compared the current Republican activity in Washington under Newt Gingrich to Herbert Hoover’s era. Gingrich and company, he said, are attempting to destroy the student loan program, Medicare, and programs to aid the homeless and elderly.

Cyr said he remembered what it was like to grow up in a poor family in Van Buren, when the only people who went to college were from wealthy families, when banks catered only to those who already had money, not to farmers. He said he fears those days are coming back.