With the June 20 Democratic primary one month away, a candidate for the 54th District in the House of Delegates has announced an event aimed at boosting turnout across all the races on the ticket.

“For most if not all of these races, this will be the election in Charlottesville and Albemarle County, which are increasingly very Democratic districts,” said former Charlottesville Mayor and 54th District Candidate Dave Norris of the upcoming Primary Voice concert at the Jefferson Theater on June 10. 

The districts all lean heavily Democrat, and there are few Republican or Independent challengers who have announced ahead of the June 20 deadline.

 “Whoever wins the Democratic primary, whether that’s for city council, for state delegate, for state Senate, has a very good chance of winning in the general election in November. So this really needs to be a high priority for anybody who cares about either local issues or state issues,” Norris told Charlottesville Right Now.

The free concert will be headlined by Kendall Street Company and features a slate of other well-known local musical acts including David Wax Museum, Marley Nichelle, Devon Sproule, Travis Elliott, Tucker Rogers, Jamie Dyer, Chris Kelly and John Kelly.

Norris says support for the event focused on turnout has been inspiring and getting the acts signed on was easy.

“The only no’s we got really were people that already had other gigs that night,” Norris told Charlottesville Right Now. “And again, it’s not necessarily all people that are endorsing me as a candidate, although hopefully many of them are.”

In the 54th District, there are three Democratic candidates including Norris. Katrina Callsen, an assistant city attorney and Albemarle County School board member, has raised the most with $110,155, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Norris is using some of his $28,861 to fund the musical event at the Jefferson, and U.S. Marine vet and businessman Bellamy Brown has raised $12,375. 

There are currently no Republican or Independent challengers.

In the 55th House District race, Democrats Amy Laufer, a former Charlottesville school board member, and ER nurse Kellen Squire are vying in the primary to compete in November against Republican challenger Reid Werner, who has raised no money to date. Laufer has raised over $225,000 while Squire has more than $150,000 on hand.

The closely watched Senate District 11 race pits longtime incumbent Senator Creigh Deeds against UVA professor and current Delegate Sally Hudson. With $679,748 on hand according to VPAP, Deeds has out-raised Hudson by more than $400,000. Hudson has $269,989 on hand.

That race has two challengers: Republican Philip Hamilton, whose raised $1,580 and Independent J’riah Guerrero who has raised no money according to VPAP.

Five candidates are competing for three spots on the ballot in November: current mayor Lloyd Snook and incumbent city councilor Michael Payne, Natalie Oschrin, former City Councilor Bob Fenwick, and Dashad Cooper, who initially announced as a candidate in the 54th District before leaving that race to compete for a city council seat.

Primary Voice is a free concert event happening at 7pm on June 10 at the Jefferson Theater.