Democrat James Walkinshaw is projected to win the special election for the vacant 11th Congressional District seat in Virginia.

The Associated Press called the race for Walkinshaw at 7:36 pm EST, with the Democrat romping over Republican Stewart Whitson, a veteran and former FBI official.

Walkinshaw, a Fairfax County supervisor in the solid blue Washington DC suburb in Northern Virginia, was projected to easily win the seat of his former boss, Rep. Gerry Connolly, who died in office in May.

With over 88 percent of the vote tallied, Walkinshaw had captured 99,049 votes to Whitson’s 33,326 – a staggering 74.9% to 25.1%.

Yet that wide margin of victory is not the most troubling margin for Republicans.

Once Walkinshaw is sworn in later in the week, House Republicans’ majority will shrink,

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