Republican Sydney Gruters won election to Florida's 16th Congressional District on Tuesday, Nov. 3, succeeding retiring U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan.

The Associated Press called the race at 8:39 p.m., WINK News reported. With an estimated 99% of votes counted, Gruters received 172,678 votes, or 51.1%, to Democrat Kelly Kirschner's 158,960 votes, or 47.1%. No-party-affiliation candidate Mark Davis received 6,138 votes, or 1.8%.

The results are unofficial until certified.

The redrawn district includes eastern Sarasota County along with all of Manatee, DeSoto and Hardee counties and portions of other counties, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The win keeps the seat in Republican hands.

Gruters, 45, lives in Sarasota with her husband, Joe Gruters, a state senator who also serves as chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), according to her candidate questionnaire.

At a victory party in Sarasota on election night, Gruters thanked President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis for their endorsements, WUSF reported. She told supporters she "probably would not be standing here" without their backing.

Gruters also carried five of the district's six counties, according to her campaign, the Herald-Tribune reported.

She spent more than a decade working for Buchanan in Washington, D.C., and Manatee County, according to her campaign biography. She also served as district director for U.S. Rep. Greg Steube after his 2018 election and was appointed by Trump in 2017 as state director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Development agency in Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to her campaign. Her most recent job was as executive director of the New College Foundation in Sarasota, WUSF reported.

Gruters was endorsed by Sen. Rick Scott, House Speaker Mike Johnson, the sheriffs of Pinellas and Sarasota counties, police and fire unions, and Buchanan himself, according to WUSF. Buchanan announced in January that he would not seek reelection. The Herald-Tribune reported he is leaving Congress after 20 years representing the Sarasota area.

Her opponent, Kirschner, 51, is a former Sarasota mayor and the son of the late Kerry Kirschner, who also served as mayor. A former Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala, Kirschner picked up endorsements from the Florida Education Association, the Florida AFL-CIO and some Republicans, including former five-term U.S. Rep. Dan Miller and Manatee County Commissioner George Kruse, according to WUSF.

Gruters raised $1.6 million for her campaign, about twice Kirschner's total, according to Ballotpedia figures cited by WUSF. Outside groups spent roughly $3.57 million on her behalf, including $2.3 million from Conservatives for American Excellence and spending by a cryptocurrency-backed super PAC, WUSF reported, citing the Bradenton Journal.

During the campaign, Gruters said her priorities include addressing rising costs, infrastructure needs, clean water and public safety, the Herald-Tribune reported. She did not debate Kirschner or respond to voter guide questions from WUSF or Ballotpedia, according to WUSF.

In a statement on election night, Gruters said, "Whether you voted for me or someone else, nobody will work harder to earn your trust," according to the Herald-Tribune. She pledged to keep her door open and said her responsibility would be to every person she was elected to serve.