There are 19 primaries Tuesday for seats in the Virginia House of Delegates. Of those, a half-dozen Republican contests are of special interest to the state's leaders and political observers.

Virginia voters will have a David vs. Goliath choice June 14 between two Republicans vying for the party's nomination for governor: Warrenton Mayor George B. Fitch and former attorney general Jerry W. Kilgore.

Four former and current state lawmakers are locked in a fight for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, an office that has limited responsibilities but lots of potential for those seeking to advance in Virginia politics.

Virginia Republicans will choose between the chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors and a 10-year veteran of the state Senate when they nominate the party's candidate for lieutenant governor.

Two lawyers are vying for the Republican nomination for attorney general, one a longtime delegate with widespread support from political leaders and the other a political newcomer who has impressed analysts by raising more than $1.5 million for his race.

Del. Joe T. May (R-Loudoun) played a critical role in ending 2004's state budget standoff, defying his party's leadership in the House of Delegates and supporting a plan that raised taxes and pumped money into public education and other services.

Three Fairfax County Republicans are competing in a primary campaign to challenge Democratic Del. Stephen C. Shannon in this fall's general election, hoping the first-term lawmaker is vulnerable in the swing 35th District.

The two candidates in the June 14 Republican primary for the 37th District House of Delegates seat agree generally on the key issues for local voters: Both campaigns are highlighting transportation, taxes and education.

The Democratic primary for J. Chapman Petersen's House of Delegates seat began quietly, with two challengers who had passion and platforms but no clear shot at an open seat.

The Republican candidates in the primary for the 41st House District sound very much alike on the most prominent issues.

Six candidates are vying for the Democratic nomination for delegate from Virginia's 45th District, where voters will be choosing a new Democratic candidate for the first time since 1982.

The campaign for Tuesday's primary has been a classic matchup between two generations, two ideals within the statewide party and two sects of Republicans in Prince William vying for control of the local GOP committee.

In 1998, Shaun Kenney and Del. Robert D. "Bobby" Orrock Sr. seemed from the outside to be on the same page. Both were Republicans in Spotsylvania, like much of Virginia newly in the GOP column, and the 19-year-old Kenney agreed to work for Orrock as a legislative intern.

State Del. Gary A. Reese (R-Fairfax), an abortion opponent and supporter of a ban on same-sex marriage, says he never thought he would be labeled a liberal in an election campaign. But amid the acrimony of the 67th District's Republican primary, that's how he sees himself being characterized.