Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, a Democrat, was projected the winner in West Virginia's special election race for governor over Republican challenger Bill Maloney on Tuesday night, according to the Associated Press.

Tomblin will finish the final year of a term left vacant by Joe Manchin, a well-liked governor who stepped down after he won a U.S. Senate seat.

The race was fraught with negative ads from both sides and narrowed in the final weeks. The national parties spent millions of dollars on each campaign.

With 65 percent of precincts reporting, Tomblin had 50 percent of the vote compared with Maloney's 46 percent, according to unofficial results.