Former Chickamauga City Councilman Steve Tarvin on Tuesday night won a runoff election for the Georgia District 2 House seat.
He had 1,925 votes to 1,648 for former LaFayette mayor Neal Florence.
The margin was 53.88 percent to 46.12 percent.
Rep. Jay Neal, R-LaFayette, stepped down as the District 2 representative after receiving an appointment from Georgia Governor Nathan Deal as executive director of the state's Office of Transition, Support and Re-entry.
Mr. Florence said, "I want to congratulate Mr. Tarvin on his victory this evening. Over the past four years he has proven himself to be a tenacious campaigner who refused to let defeat stop him from seeking elected office. His hard work paid off and I am confident that he will put his campaigning work ethic to good use on behalf of the 2nd District citizens he now serves.
"Our campaign has been about the people and about the issues that matter to our great community. We have much work to do in the days and years ahead and we must come together in service."
Mr. Florence said he ran a grassroots campaign, making over 3,000 personal phone calls and knocking on over 1,000 doors in the runoff.