A redrawn state senate district that once created headaches for Republicans has now become a problem for Democrats.

Democrat Brandon Anderson ran unopposed in the primary in May for the 45th District. Now he tells county officials that he has dropped out of the race.

The Wilkes Journal-Patriot newspaper reports that Anderson wants to spend more time building the church he started last year in WIlkesboro.

A committee of Democrats from the five counties served by the district - Wilkes, Watauga, Alleghany, Ashe and western Surry - will choose Anderson's replacement for the general election.

The district lines shifted this year as a result of a court decision that found some of the state legislative districts were racially gerrymandered. The 45th became “double-bunked,” with two GOP incumbent state senators facing each other for the right to appear on the November ballot.

State Senator Deanna Ballard defeated fellow Republican Shirley Randleman in May.

The seat has been safely Republican for the last several election cycles, with Ballard winning in a landslide over her Democratic challenger in 2016.