Brooke Pinto, a former assistant attorney general for D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, won Ward 2’s special election for its D.C. Council seat Wednesday.

Pinto, 28, was leading the race by about 20 percent of the vote as of Thursday, according to the D.C. Board of Elections, but ballots postmarked June 16 will still trickle in over the next several days. She will step into the role later this month and serve the remainder of former Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans’ term, which ended in January when he resigned amid an ongoing ethics scandal, for the rest of the calendar year.

The Washington Post first declared Wednesday that Pinto had secured the seat.

“Thank you to the voters and residents of Ward 2 for putting your trust in me to lead and care for our community during this important moment in our history,” Pinto said in a statement. “I am honored to be Ward 2’s first woman to hold this seat and the youngest member of the D.C. Council in history.”

Pinto is set to join the Council ahead of a vote that will determine next year’s budget.

Pinto secured the Democratic Party’s nomination for Ward 2’s Council seat in a tight race earlier this month, ending the race just a few percentage points ahead of then-Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission Chair Patrick Kennedy.

The D.C. Board of Elections mailed all Ward 2 registered voters their ballots for the special election, breaking from practices in previous elections in which voters were required to request their ballots individually. Many voters reported not receiving a mail-in ballot for the June 2 primary election despite requesting one.

All of Pinto’s Democratic competitors announced they would not actively campaign for the special election, and Republican Katherine Venice withdrew from the race after the primary earlier this month. Pinto will face Venice for the seat in November’s general election.