A Kentucky Democrat won a special election for the state House of Representatives in a rural county that backed President Donald Trump in 2016.
Linda Belcher, a former school teacher and principal, won the special election in Bullitt County on Tuesday over Republican Rebecca Johnson, 68.4 percent to 31.5 percent, with 4,947 votes cast, Courier Journal.com reports.
Johnson is the widow of Rep. Dan Johnson, who committed suicide in December amid sexual-abuse allegations.
In 2016, Belcher lost to Johnson by just 150 votes, but Trump carried the district with 72 percent of the vote, The Hill reports.
Democrat Hillary Clinton carried 23 percent — and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul won that year by taking 64 percent of the vote.
Dan Johnson, a local pastor, killed himself two days after the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting published a report saying he had been accused of molesting a 17-year-old girl at his church.
The report also linked Johnson to arson cases and alcohol violations at the church.
Within 24 hours after his death, Rebecca Johnson declared her candidacy and was nominated two weeks later by the Bullitt County Republican Party, Courier Journal.com reports.
"We ran a very positive campaign," Belcher told the website, "and we were trying to reach out and touch the people of Bullitt County — and we did."
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