NOTE: My name is Donald Braden and this was originally posted to the Full Slate Project blog. This district has been profiled before, there is an additional Democrat in the race now so I reworked the post to include both candidates.
Two Democrats are competing to represent District 56 this cycle. Republican Peter Farrell currently holds this seat. There has not been a Democratic challenger since 2009. Farrell drew 15,126 votes in this uncontested race the last cycle. Farrell has decided not to seek reelection for this district. As of now, three Republicans are competing to represent this district as well.
THE ANNOUNCED DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES ARE MELISSA DART & LIZZIE DRUCKER-BASCH:
DISTRICT 56 FAST FACTS
Residents = 80,010
Active Registered Voters = 50,546
Percent Registered = 63%
Total Vote in Last Race = 15,126
Participation Rate = 30%
Total Vote for Republican last Race = 15,126
Total Vote for Democrat last Race = 0
Localities = Goochland, Henrico, Louisa and Spotsylvania Counties
There is a total of 29 precincts in District 56. Louisa has the most precincts with 15 while Goochland has 5, Henrico 7 and Spotsylvania just 2. While Louisa has the highest count of precincts, voter registration in the Henrico County precincts appears high since they are only a few points behind Louisa on total active voter share percentage as seen in the pie chart below.
Here is the share of Active Voters by Locality: