With pre-election jitters setting in, all Jim Faris could do Tuesday afternoon was finish watching a couple episodes of “The West Wing,” the small-screen political drama.

But Tuesday night turned out to be drama-free in Kansas’ 47th District.

Incumbent Lee Tafanelli, R-Ozawkie, was re-elected easily Tuesday night over Democrat Faris in a Kansas House race that ran through the heart of Republican-heavy Jefferson County.

“I’m very thankful for all the voters in the 47th,” Tafanelli said. “It’s a pretty decisive victory. We’ll take it.”

Tafanelli won the seat by more than 2,000 votes. The final tally: 4,618 votes for Tafanelli to 2,461 for Faris with all precincts reporting, according to the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office.

Tafanelli said he thought the win meant that voters in his district heard his message about working to build the economy and not overtax constituents. And with all of the other Republican losses in the state, he said he felt pretty fortunate.

As the results came in, Faris waited to head to the Democratic watch party in Topeka, a long Election Day quickly moving behind him.

“Well, honestly, I’d like to get this nerve-racking experience over with,” Faris said.

Faris said that even though Tafanelli won the election, he thought his campaign’s focus on education and immigration – two areas he said Tafanelli was soft on – would make district voters focus on Tafanelli’s voting record during the upcoming legislative session.

“A lot of people in this district are going to pay attention to him a little bit more because of what I’ve been able to bring out in this election,” he said.