Katherine Robertson won the Republican attorney general runoff on Tuesday night, defeating former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Jay Mitchell after a bruising primary battle that burned through more than $8 million in combined spending.

Robertson carried 55.07% of the vote to Mitchell’s 44.93%, according to unofficial returns, with 168,424 votes to his 137,412 out of more than 305,000 cast.

Robertson will succeed term-limited Attorney General Steve Marshall, who endorsed her early in the race.

Robertson, who has served as Marshall’s Chief Counsel, led the three-candidate May 19 primary with 41% to Mitchell’s 34% and carried that advantage into the runoff.

“Twelve months ago, I entered this race as the underdog, the spoiler or the unknown, depending on who you ask,” Robertson said in front of the crowd. “All I knew was that I wanted to outwork and outclass my opponents and offer Alabamians something different, not somebody who saw themselves as the next rightful anything, just somebody regular who cared enough to give it a shot.”

Robertson thanked her supporters for getting her the GOP nomination.

“There have been times on this campaign where it felt like it was me against the world, like the next attorney general had already been chosen, and I didn’t even have a right to run at all, but I have been underestimated my entire career, and that comes with advantages,” she said. “They never see you coming.”

She will face the Democratic nominee in the November general election, but in deep-red Alabama, Tuesday’s runoff effectively decided who will serve as the state’s next attorney general.

Sawyer Knowles is a state and political reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].