"Republican K.L. Brown has declared victory in the special election to fill a vacant state House seat.

Brown built a commanding lead quickly in the vote count, leading since the first boxes were tallied. With the win, he claims the Alabama House District 40 seat vacated by Rep. Lea Fite's death in October. Brown's victory picks up a seat for the GOP, which hopes to wrest control in the Legislature from Democrats this fall. Fite was a Democrat.

Brown told The Anniston Star about 9 p.m. before the count was done that he thought the lead was big enough to declare victory.

Brown led Democrat Ricky Whaley with 3,422 votes, or 55.6 percent. Whaley had 2,070 votes, or 38.5 percent. Independent candidate Carol Hagan trailed with 135 votes, or 2.5 percent of the total counted.

Only provisional ballots remained to be counted, and they will not be enough to change the result."

Jacksonville News
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