As the only Republican candidate remaining in the state Legislature primary race for District 45, it was no surprise Randy Woodbury emerged with more than 73 percent of his party’s vote, according to unofficial poll results.

However, although Charity Faber dropped out of the race nearly a month prior to Tuesday’s primary, she still received more than 26 percent of the vote.

“I was kind of stunned, but honored, that people thought that even though I dropped out of the race, they still thought I was the best woman for the job,” she said.

Woodbury said he was pleased with the results of the election, even though there was low voter turnout among Republicans for the primary. Only a little more than 2.4 percent of registered Republicans in the district voted Tuesday.

“This is when the real campaign begins,” he said. “Now we have a few months ahead of us to get out what we stand for.”

Woodbury, 29, is a senior analyst for Principal Global Investors in Des Moines. His previous experience in politics, doing research for the 2002 campaign of Rep. Jim Kurtenbach, R-Nevada, was his inspiration to run for the Legislature.

“I think I can lend a valuable voice that won’t be intimidated,” he said. “My experience with a Fortune 500 company and my ability to interact with a diversity of people has uniquely positioned me to provide strong leadership in this area.”

His opponent in the race for the seat in the Iowa House vacated by former Rep. Jane Greimann is Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, who won the Democratic nomination with 62 percent of her party’s vote.

Woodbury said he feels Wessel-Kroeschell is a worthy opponent to face in the election, but he is attempting to avoid partisanship in his campaign.

“We live under a two-party system, and people tend to label candidates,” he said. “But I just want to focus on who will bring the most solutions to the people of Ames.”

In the fall elections, Faber said she will put her support behind Woodbury.

“One thing he definitely brings to the table is youthful enthusiasm. He’s younger than a lot of legislators, and there’s something definite about being in your 20s and 30s that you don’t see in other years of your life,” she said. “There are all sorts of budgeting and numbers things that he can do in his head that I can’t even do on paper. We also share a lot of viewpoints.”

She said she feels Woodbury would make a great state representative.

“He’s a really nice guy, and he’s all about Iowa, and I think that’s important,” she said.