Bradley Byrne (R), hailing from Alabama’s 1st Congressional District, will soon be the newest member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Byrne will fill the vacant seat left by Jo Bonner (R) who resigned in August to take a position as Vice Chancellor of the University of Alabama System. Byrne, a former State Senator, easily coasted to victory last Tuesday, though he faced a competitive runoff in November. He and real estate developer Dean Young (R) made it into the Republican primary runoff, setting off a competitive contest between the establishment candidate (Byrne) and the tea party candidate (Young). Money from outside groups poured into the race, which embodied the ongoing conflict within the Republican Party. Byrne beat Young by about 4 points, sending him to the general election as the clear favorite.

The current house breakdown will now be 233 Republicans, 201 Democrats and 1 vacancy. Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC) will also be resigning in the coming days to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

State Sen. Katherine Clark (D) won the Massachusetts’ 5th special election yesterday, making her the sixth woman elected to Congress from Massachusetts. Clark was expected to easily defeat opponent attorney Frank Addivinola (R). President Obama won the 5th district with 65% of the vote in 2012. Clark will be filling Senator Ed Markey’s old seat, (D) since he was elected to the Senate in June to fill the remainder of John Kerry’s (D) term after he resigned to be Secretary of State. Clark will be up again in 2014.