Gov. Kate Brown, who took over when John Kitzhaber resigned in February 2015, has won the office in her own right.

In unofficial results at 10 p.m., Brown led with 55 percent of the vote.

“I am so honored to be serving as your governor for the next two years,” Brown said. “Thank you so very much. I will fight to make sure that our schools open the doors of opportunity for all of our students, I will fight to make sure our economy grows in every single corner of the state, and I will fight to preserve beauty and bounty of Oregon for generations to come.”

Smiling broadly and waving her hands in victory, Brown appeared on stage at the Oregon Convention Center with her husband, Dan Little. She thanked her opponents GOP nominee Bud Pierce and Cliff Thomason, candidate for the Independent Party of Oregon, for running civil and issues-based campaigns. Pierce conceded the race moments before Brown’s on-stage comments.

Brown will fill the two years remaining in Kitzhaber’s original unexpired term.

Pierce, a Salem oncologist, was running his first race for elective office.

“It is a tremendous honor to be one of the two people in Oregon who had a legitimate chance of being governor of this great state,” he told supporters in Salem.