Abby Major, Jeff Pyle’s former chief of staff, handily won her ex-boss’ seat in a special election Tuesday.

The state’s 60th House District covers parts of Armstrong, Butler and Indiana counties.

Pyle stepped down in March for health reasons at the start of his ninth, two-year term. Major will finish Pyle’s term, which runs through 2022.

Major, a Republican, is the first woman to serve as a state representative in the area now known as the 60th District since it was created in 1969-70, according to State House records.

“I am happy to join other great women in the region such as Rep. Marci Mustello (R-Butler) and Rep. Donna Oberlander (R-Clarion),” Major said.

Major, 36, bested an experienced Democrat and a U.S. Army Reserves colonel, Frank Prazenica, and a young Libertarian, Andrew Hreha.

The unofficial results as of 6 p.m. Wednesday from the Pennsylvania Department of State are: Major, 9,608 votes (76.4%); Prazenica, 2,438 votes (19.4%); and Andrew Hreha 531 votes (4.2%).

“I’m just so honored, humbled and grateful that everybody put their faith in me and chose me to be their next state representative,” Major said. “I hope to make them proud and to do good work.”

Prazenica said, “I’m proud to be a member of the 60th District, and I support the new representative and her team.”

He gave credit to the “fantastic people” he met while campaigning, including Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians.

“The Democrats are out (there), but we’re underdogs,” Prazenica said.

“It was still a fantastic experience,” he said.

Armstrong County Republican Party Chairman Mike Baker said Major ran a terrific campaign.

“She has big shoes to fill, but no one knows that better than her,” he said.

Pyle said on his Facebook page early Tuesday afternoon: “She’s been with me since Day 1. She has the knowledge, ability and desire to serve us well.”

“I’m so grateful to have had the time to work and learn from Jeff,” Major said.

The winner of Tuesday’s special election fills his seat immediately.

Major was in the office Wednesday to get to work.

Her first task will be to work on the state budget. She plans to push back on Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed income tax hike.

Major has not been elected to a public office before. She is an Iraq war veteran who served as an Army intelligence analyst.

The Democrats faced a tough slough in the special election because they didn’t have much time to prepare for an election in a district where fewer than 40% of registered voters are Democrats, noted Armstrong County Democratic Chairman Steve Atwood early in the race.

Democrats had not nominated a candidate to run against Pyle in the past three elections, Atwood said.

Prazenica, 74, served as superintendent at South Butler School District and an acting superintendent of Leechburg Area School District. He also has been on the Freeport Area School District board for 14 years.

As a seasoned education leader, Prazenica pressed for job growth, job training and more funding for K-12 education.

With the odds against him as the Libertarian Party candidate, Hreha, 22, of North Apollo focused on an important local issue: Increased economic opportunity for small businesses and residents in the 60th District.

Hreha also drummed up awareness of the Libertarian Party capturing 4.2% of the vote in a district where Libertarian votes typically draw less than 3% of the electorate.

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