Barrington resident Jason Knight celebrated a victory in the Democratic Primary on Tuesday night, Sept. 13, knocking off longtime District 67 representative, Jan Malik. 

Mr. Knight, a first-time candidate, won handily in Barrington, as he received 604 votes to Mr. Malik's 147.

Take a look at the election numbers.

In Warren, Mr. Malik, a 20-year veteran of the RI House of Representatives, won, but he grabbed only 500 votes to Mr. Knight's 229.

The final tally — Mr. Knight 833, Mr. Malik 647.

"I am really on Cloud 9," Mr. Knight said Tuesday night. "It's a vindication of everything we've been saying. I'm just tremendously grateful to all the hands that went into making this happen."

Mr. Knight praised the support he received from many people, and made special note of the work by his wife, Nicole Jellinek. Mr. Knight said his wife was instrumental in the "get out the vote" effort.

Mr. Knight said he was not sure what to expect from today's voting, but he began to feel more optimistic when he saw the returns from the Kickemuit Village poll in Warren. Mr. Knight said Mr. Malik had received about 100 votes, while he captured around 80. Mr. Knight said he had anticipated a wider margin for Mr. Malik, especially in that polling location.

Mr. Malik said he was very surprised by the voting totals in Barrington, where Mr. Knight captured nearly five votes for every one vote for Mr. Malik.

"I'm very disappointed in Barrington," Mr. Malik said Tuesday night. He added that he was also upset by the decision of the Barrington Town Democratic Committee to endorse Mr. Knight and not the incumbent.

"It all started with the Barrington Democrats doing what they did to me," he said. "What they did to me, I'm not going to forget."

Mr. Malik said he believes some voters were impacted by the news of his A-plus rating from the NRA, a grade which he believes does not fairly reflect his voting record.

"I think that was the biggest thing," he added.

Mr. Knight said the voters spoke loudly on Tuesday night, calling for the changes he has been promoting since early in his campaign.

"We are pleased and grateful for the opportunity to be a service leader for these two communities," he said.

The victory for Mr. Knight lands him in the general election facing Libertarian candidate, Daryl Gould.