After being shocked by tragedy and witnessing one of the more miraculous recovery stories in recent years, voters in Tucson, AZ chose to keep Rep. Gabby Giffords’ (D) seat blue Tuesday night.

Ron Barber, a former Giffords staffer, defeated Jesse Kelly, Giffords’ last Republican opponent, in a special election to fill Giffords seat after she resigned following a shooting that left her incapacitated and six dead in January, 2011. Overcoming a Republican lean in the AZ-08 district (registration is 38.4% Republican and 31.4% Democratic), the AP reported Tuesday that Barber won. He’ll now serve out the remainder of Giffords’ term.

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After being sworn in, Barber will serve the remainder of Giffords’s term, which runs until the end of the year. A separate, regular election for the full term starting in 2013 will take place in the fall – with Barber as the incumbent.

Although Barber didn’t say when he first announced whether he would also run for a full term, he later said he planned to run in both races. The regular election in the fall will take place under new congressional lines, which make the toss-up district slightly more competitive for Democrats.

Excerpts from Talking Points Memo and The Hill.