District 20 is being contested by a Democratic candidate this cycle. The seat is currently held by Republican Richard "Dickie" Bell. He ran uncontested by a Democrat last cycle, however he did face Libertarian William "Will" Hammer. In 2015 Davis drew 10,758 compared to 3,425 for Hammer out of a total of 14,316 cast. Interestingly, there is a niche for a Democrat that is untapped in this district
THE ANNOUNCED DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE IS MICHELE EDWARDS
DISTRICT 20 FAST FACTS
- Residents = 80,010
- Active Registered Voters = 46,535
- Percent Registered = 58%
- Total Vote in Last Race = 14,316
- Participation Rate = 31%
- Total Vote for Republican last Race = 10,758
- Total Vote for Democrat last Race = 0
- Total Vote for the Libertarian last Race = 3,425
- Total Vote Other = 133
- Localities = Augusta, Highland & Nelson Counties; Staunton & Waynesboro Cities
District 20 is made up of 31 precincts with 12 in Augusta County, 6 in Highland County, 5 in Staunton City and 4 each in Nelson County and Waynesboro City. In this instance, the precinct counts are a little misleading. One other thing I would like to note is the last several districts with no Dem contesting the prior cycle had 400 to 500 "other votes" while this race, with a libertarian saw that number drop. Those "other" voters would be a great target to start with for sure, with the right data sets I could easily figure out who they are.
Let's take a turn to some charts.
Here is the share of Active Voters by Locality next to Total Votes Cast by Locality: