Republican candidate John Kennedy won a state run-off election on December 10 to fill Louisiana’s second seat in the U.S. Senate. Kennedy, Louisiana’s incumbent treasurer, won 61 percent of the vote to defeat Democratic candidate Foster Campbell.

Kennedy will take office January 3, 2017, creating a vacancy in his current position that will be filled in a special election to be held in March or October 2017. The First Assistant State Treasurer will take over as treasurer until an election can take place.

Campbell, a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission, was looking to increase the number of Democrats in the Senate and gained nationwide support and over $2 million in donations in the months leading up to the December 10 election.

With Kennedy’s victory, the Senate is comprised of 52 Republicans and 48 Democrats. Kennedy will hold the seat until he is up for re-election in 2022.