As Republican primary voters head to the polls on Tuesday, western Prince William County will be among the most active areas for balloting in the entire commonwealth.

Seats for the state Senate, House of Delegates and Board of County Supervisors all feature intra-party contests on August 23. Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.

There are no Democratic primaries in Prince William County this year. However, voters in Virginia are not registered by party. That means all registered voters regardless of personal ideology or preference are eligible to vote on Tuesday.

Here is a preview of what will be on the ballot locally:

State Senate

The top of the ticket for many western Prince William County residents will be those who live in a newly drawn state Senate district in the northern most part of the county and along the Interstate 66 corridor east of Haymarket.

The 13th state Senate district, which features no incumbent, also includes most of the Linton Hall corridor from the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in the west to parts of Bull Run and Sudley in northern Manassas.

Gainesville District Supervisor John Stirrup (R) enters Tuesday as the favorite to capture the nomination against deputy clerk of the circuit court Bob FitzSimmonds (R) of Bristow and former Del. Dick Black (R) of Loudoun County, though Black does have a realistic pathway to victory.

About three quarters of the district sits in Loudoun County, giving Black some bit of home field advantage. Black also held a lead in fundraising at the end of the last reporting period on June 30, outpacing Stirrup by almost $36,000.

Both candidates raised more than twice as much as FitzSimmonds, who checked in with just under $49,000 raised.

FitzSimmonds has waged three campaigns in many of the district's precincts within Prince William County during previous runs for the 29th state Senate district.

Both FitzSimmonds and Black are known for championing issues close to social conservatives with their primary difference being on residential development, with FitzSimmonds favoring slower growth.

Stirrup shares their ideology on social issues but is known more for his views on illegal immigration. In the primary, he has played up his socially conservative bona fides, even promoting an endorsement from his former Capitol Hill boss Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), a medical doctor who supports the death penalty for doctors who perform abortions.

All three consider themselves conservative on taxes and the economy. That's led the primary to basically come down to one issue that does not deal with public policy: electability.

Both Black and FitzSimmonds have lost races while Stirrup has won two. The fact of the matter is, however, than any Republican would be the favorite going into November due to the demographics of the district.

The Republican nominee is set to face Democrat Shawn Mitchell in the general election.

Meanwhile, there are two other state Senate primaries in the county on Tuesday: Fairfax County residents Miller Baker (R) and Scott Martin (R) square off for the right to take on Sen. George Barker (D) in what will be one of the battleground districts for control of the state Senate this fall.

Locally, the 39th state Senate district extends from some of the county precincts south and east of Manassas and runs along the Prince William County Parkway and Old Bridge Road all the way to Occoquan.

Baker and Martin split the biggest local endorsements of the race, with Del. Bob Marshall (R-13th) siding with Baker and Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart (R) picking Martin.

In fundraising, Baker had a $29,000 advantage over Martin on June 30.

Further to the southeast, former delegate and former chairman of the Virginia state Republican Party Jeff Frederick (R) takes on radio host and construction worker Tito Munoz (R) in the 36th state Senate district. The winner faces state Sen. Toddy Puller (D) in the fall.

House of Delegates

There is only one primary for the House of Delegates out of eight seats in Prince William and it is in a new district drawn in the northern portion of the county west of U.S. 15 and north of Interstate 66.

In the 87th district, David Ramadan (R) and Jo Ann Chase (R) tangle on Tuesday for the right to face Democrat Mike Kondratick in the general election.

The race is drawing considerably less attention than some of its competitors at the House of Delegates is virtually certain to stay in GOP control come the fall.

Democrats would need to win all but one of the 52 races in which they fielded candidates and currently hold only 39 seats in the 100-seat chamber.

Ramadan dwarfed Chase in fundraising through June by over $100,000. Locally, Stewart and Del. Jackson Miller (R-50th) support Ramadan while Marshall and Black favor Chase, suggesting she is a favorite among those identified as socially conservative stalwarts.

While Ramadan claims to share their beliefs regarding both abortion and marriage, some conservatives have blasted him over statements related to the proposed Islamic cultural center in Manhattan blocks away from the World Trade Center site and what they called ties to a Libyan lobbying firm.

Ramadan dismissed those accusations out of hand.

Board of County Supervisors

In the battle for Brentsville District supervisor, non-Republicans could make a big difference in the race given that county Democrats failed to field a candidate for the second consecutive cycle.

Given the GOP lean of the seat anyway, the winner of the Republican primary is the defacto general election winner assuming a strong write-in candidate does not emerge in the fall or someone else happens to qualify for the ballot.

The race between Supervisor Wally Covington (R) and homemaker Jeanine Lawson (R) is a classic insider versus outsider match with development being the center piece of the campaign.

Lawson accuses Covington of selling out to developers while Covington's record suggests support for some controversial residential developments, including Avendale and Haymarket Landing among others.

Covington said he voted for Avendale because of the transportation and infrastructure improvements included in the proffers. Lawson is against all new development in Brentsville District "until I see evidence to convince me our long term local housing market is healthier," she wrote on her website.

Covington enters the race with a better-than 2-to-1 cash advantage and higher name recognition though Lawson counts a steady base among some of the county's activist conservatives.

Meanwhile in neighboring Gainesville District, Republicans have fielded five candidates, the most of any intra-party contests in the county. Former candidate and current planning commissioner Martha Hendley (R) takes on newcomers Peter Candland (R), Suzanne Miller (R), Michael High (R) and Steve Botello (R).

Based on fundraising alone, Candland would be considered the frontrunner, bringing in close to $38,000 through June. That is more than 3.5 times as much as either Miller or Hendley, both brought in close to $10,000. High and Botello significantly trailed.

The Times individually profiled each candidate in the run-up to the election and found that the difference in their backgrounds are more pronounced than most of their policy positions.

Hendley has spent the most time working within county government. High and Botello are both military veterans; Miller is a engineering project manager with BAE System and Candland is a senior contract negotiations strategist.

The winner of the Republican primary is set to face Democrat Ann Wheeler in the fall.

There is also one other primary for Board of County Supervisors in Coles where two-term incumbent Marty Nohe (R) takes on Bob Pugh (R). Nohe is a heavy favorite, having outraised Pugh in the money race by approximately a 40-to-1 clip through June.