Glenn Youngkin, the former co-CEO of the Carlyle Group who has never run for elected office, won the Republican nomination for Virginia governor on Monday night.

After six rounds of vote-counting and tallying in Richmond after the weekend’s unassembled convention, Youngkin bested entrepreneur Pete Snyder 55% to 45%. In the process he also defeated State Senator Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield County) and former Speaker of the House Del. Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights), as well as former Defense Department official Sergio de la Peña, former Roanoke sheriff Octavia Johnson, and former think tank executive Pete Doran.

“I am prepared to lead, excited to serve and profoundly humbled by the trust the people have placed in me. Virginians have made it clear that they are ready for a political outsider with proven business experience to bring real change in Richmond,” tweeted Youngkin just after 10 p.m., when it became clear he had crossed the 50% threshold needed to win the nomination.

“While certainly would have preferred a [win], I send my heartfelt congratulations to [Glenn Youngkin] on a tremendous race + deserved win,” tweeted Snyder.

Youngkin will face the winner of the Democratic primary on June 8 for the commonwealth’s off-off year gubernatorial election, one which Republicans are thirsting to win after a decade-long absence from statewide office and a Democratic takeover of the General Assembly in 2019. Independent candidate Princess Blanding will also be on November’s ballot.

More than 30,000 Republican delegates to Saturday’s convention — which took place at 39 sites across Virginia — cast ballots using ranked-choice voting, under which they ranked the seven candidates in order of preference. A simple majority was required to win, and if no candidate reached that threshold after the first count, the lowest performer would be eliminated and their votes redistributed to the remaining contenders.

While Chase had argued that the system was chosen to thwart her victory — she had advocated for a statewide primary — it was Youngkin who won the first round of balloting, taking just under one-third of all votes. He then held the lead throughout subsequent rounds of counting, even as Snyder claimed a large number of votes from de la Peña’s supporters during the fourth round. He cemented his victory after Chase was eliminated in the fifth round of tallying.

Youngkin’s victory could provide some solace to establishment Republicans who feared that Chase — a self-declared “Trump in heels” — would become the Republican Party’s standard-bearer, especially in a state that voted decisively against Trump in the presidential election and has become more fertile ground for Democrats over the last decade. It also follows the victory Sunday of Del. Jason Miyares (R-Virginia Beach) in the attorney general’s nominating race; he defeated Chuck Smith, who Chase had endorsed.

Youngkin also brings to the race what many political analysts say will be critical to defeating the Democratic candidate, especially if it is former governor Terry McAuliffe: money. Of the $8 million Youngkin raised for his campaign ahead of the nominating convention, $5.5 million came in the form of a personal loan.

Still, Youngkin will face a challenging balancing act in firing up a Republican base that remains close to Trump and large numbers of suburban voters who have moved away from him over the years. (In the first round of voting, Youngkin won much of the Republican vote in Northern Virginia.) This balance was already on display in the lead-up to the convention: Youngkin touted his business credentials and said he would move to reopen all schools and businesses, while at the same creating an election integrity task force, linking himself to Trump in a campaign ad, and criticizing Democrats over the teaching of critical race theory and their support for ending qualified immunity for police during an appearance on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

A recent poll found that while a majority of Virginians said they were moderate-leaning-conservative, they also supported Democratic proposals on health care, immigration, taxes, and the environment.

Shortly after Youngkin claimed victory, McAuliffe — who had been polling ahead of his four Democratic competitors ahead of the primary — linked the Republican nominee to Trump.

“For the past year, Virginians have witnessed Republican candidates fawn all over Donald Trump, parrot his dangerous and racist rhetoric, and fully embrace his extreme, right-wing agenda. Now, Glenn Youngkin has paid enough to purchase the Republican gubernatorial nomination so he can run Donald Trump’s dangerous playbook here in Virginia,” he said.

“We can’t let an extreme Republican like Glenn Youngkin take us back. I’ve beaten extreme Republicans like Glenn before, and I’m ready to do it again,” added McAuliffe.

The vote-counting will continue in Richmond on Tuesday for the only outstanding race: for lieutenant governor. There are six Republicans in the running.