In a key battleground contest, Assemblyman Ryan Peters and running mate Jean Stanfield won in LD8.

The Republican team defeated Democrats Gina LaPlaca and Mark Natale.

“We’re calling it,” Peters told InsiderNJ. “We won.”

Unofficially, it was a less than 1,000 vote victory for Stanfield and Peters, according to GOP sources.

The win showed fighting pluck from Republicans in a county where they were all but presumed dead.

Peters and Stanfield made a stand on the basis of their shared public service record against a

considerable show of resources by the expansive South Jersey Democratic Organization. A Navy SEAL and combat veteran, Peters in particular shone as a legitimate star in the firmament of a party that looked grimly footed with President Donald J. Trump as president in a blue state.

“I’m excited ,” the victorious Republican told InsiderNJ.

“I just had a feeling,” he added.

He was calm throughout the campaign, never showing a propensity to wig out even when Democratic Party buzz enveloped Burlington.

Peters was calm, too, in victory, praising his vanquished opponents.

“Senator Troy Singleton called and put Gina [LaPlaca] and Mark [Natale] on the phone,” said the assemblyman.  “It was very classy on their part to call the way they did, and Jean and I appreciate it. We are on the offensive with all the negative ad, and the 8th reacted to Jean and me and responded to our positive message.

“We just got out there and hustled,” Peters added. “I love it.”