Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Doug Ollivant won the Republican nomination for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District on Tuesday, positioning him to challenge first-term Democrat Eugene Vindman in a seat that has tightened over the past two election cycles and could flip in November.According to unofficial results from the Virginia Department of Elections, Ollivant received 56.58% of the vote (13,337 votes). Philip A. Harding finished second with 30.67% (7,229 votes), and Rick S. Smithers received 12.75% (3,005 votes).

“Thank you,” Ollivant said in a statement Tuesday night. “We have been at this for over a year and the support we have gotten from every part of the community has been incredible. I got into this race because I looked around at my neighbors — veterans, small business owners, families working hard and still falling behind — and it was clear Virginia isn’t working for a lot of them. Washington has spent a decade making promises it can’t keep and sending the bill home. That ends when we send someone who has actually managed hard problems under pressure.”