State Rep. Shelli VanDenburgh, D-Crown Point, beat out political newcomer Republican nominee Bill Johnson to retain her 19th House seat Tuesday.
"It's an amazing feeling," she said. "We've worked so hard since March."
District 19 covers southern Lake County and portions of Newton and Porter counties.
VanDenburgh, 39, left her job in the Lake County clerk's office to focus on her job as a state representative full time when she was appointed to fill Bob Kuzman's seat in 2007. Kuzman stepped down to work for an Indianapolis law office.
Johnson, 54, a Crown Point businessman and self-proclaimed party outsider, ran for the Republican nomination, but lost to Andrew Webster by 24 votes. However, Webster withdrew his name from the ballot for undisclosed reasons, and a Republican caucus voted in August to have Johnson fill the vacancy. He said he sees this election as a learning experience.
"We will be back," he said.
