There will be a new face under the Gold Dome representing parts of metro Atlanta. Republican Jason Dickerson has claimed victory in the special election runoff for the District 21 State Senate seat.

The district covers portions of Cherokee and North Fulton counties and was previously held by longtime Sen. Brandon Beach, who stepped down earlier this year to become U.S. Treasurer.

Dickerson defeated Democrat Debra Shigley, who had drawn national attention and support, including a campaign stop from the head of the Democratic National Committee after her strong performance in last month’s special election.

Dickerson credited his campaign’s grassroots work for the win.

“They were knocking on doors, they were sign waving,” he told WSB. “In this election, the first one in August we knocked on over 12-13,000 doors. For this runoff, we did just over 10,000 doors in 10 days.”

Speaking after his win, Dickerson said he was relieved the long campaign had come to an end. “It’s been a long 183 days, it’s been a long time, a long special election,” he said. “The amount of volunteers and supporters we have is unbelievable.”

Dickerson will take office as the new senator for District 21, succeeding Beach.

WSB’s Michelle Wright contributed to this story