CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- With energy spread throughout the room, supporters of District 9 Congressional candidate, Cynthia Wallace, celebrated all night as they watched the results trickle in.

“It’s a little bit surreal to see my name on the screen, it was surreal to see it on the ballot,” says Wallace.

Wallace says she never imagined she would be running for Congress, but Congressman Dan Bishop’s victory in the special election, made the decision for her.

“We didn’t have a representative for 9 months. And when Mr. Bishop was elected, he didn’t serve. He missed ⅓ of the votes in the first two months.”

Now, motivated by friends and family, she plans to hit the ground running towards November.

“We need representation that will show up. That’s what we need for the District, that’s what I did today,” says Wallace. “I went to 6 of the counties today and I want to continue to do that from now until November, so they can get a representative that’s there for them.”

As for Washington, based on her experience as the Democratic Party chair for District 9 the last 3 years, she’s confident she can not only take on the challenge, but bring the District together.

“I’ve already worked all 8 counties of the district, including the two new counties,” says Wallace. “So I know what they need.”