U.S. Rep. Tim Kennedy has secured a full term representing Buffalo and parts of Western New York in Congress, the Associated Press declares.

The Democratic lawmaker has defeated Republican attorney Anthony Marecki in the race for New York’s 26th Congressional District, according to the latest unofficial results from AP.

Kennedy has been in the House of Representatives since February when he won a special election to fill the remainder of the term of former Rep. Brian Higgins, who left Congress after nearly 20 years to become the new president and CEO at Shea's Performing Arts Center in downtown Buffalo.

Kennedy, the first occupational therapist in the House, spent 13 years serving in the New York state Senate.

The 26th Congressional District encompasses parts of Erie and Niagara counties and the cities of Buffalo and Niagara Falls. It is a heavily Democratic district in which Marecki did not actively campaign for.

Kennedy will be sworn in as a member of the 119th Congress in January.