VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Andrew Rice won the special election for Virginia's 98th House District on Tuesday night according to unofficial results.
Rice will fill the seat left vacant after the death of longtime delegate Barry Knight in February, who represented the area for more than a decade.
Rice, a Virginia Beach Deputy Commonwealth Attorney, won with 62.46% of the vote against Democrat Cheryl Smith, a retired educator who earned 37.5% of votes. Smith also ran for the seat last year and lost to Knight.
Rice is ahead by almost 3,000 votes as of 9:25 p.m. All precincts are reporting, but absentee, provisional and post-election ballots have not been counted yet.
"As results come in I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who braved the cold working polls, came to vote and supported this dream," Rice wrote on Facebook. "From the bottom of my heart thank you to the Knight family, my beautiful wife, my parents, and most of all the Lord. This has been an incredible journey."
Del. Terry Kilgore, the House majority leader, said in a statement, "I am thrilled to welcome Andrew Rice to our Caucus as the newest Delegate from the 98th District. The road back starts here."
