Couric dropped out of the race for lieutenant governor after being diagnosed with cancer in July 2000. She stayed in the Senate and took on the co-chairmanship of the state party.
During six years in the Senate, Couric fought to make Virginia the first state to require insurance companies to pay for colon cancer screening, a law that passed last year. Katie Couric's husband, Jay Monahan, died of colon cancer in 1998.
Born in Atlanta, Couric was the eldest of four children. She graduated from Smith College and worked as a journalist, writing for the Legal Times in Washington. She also wrote books about the legal profession.
She won a seat in the state senator in 1995 and was re-elected in 1999.