NORTHAMPTON — With 96 percent of the votes tabulated, Jo Comerford won the race for the Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester District state Senate seat.

Comerford, the former MoveOn.org campaign director, led with 14,196 votes, while educator and women’s rights advocate Chelsea Kline had 10,823, according to numbers from the Associated Press. Northampton City Council President Ryan O’Donnell had 939 votes while Central Hampshire Veterans’ Services Director Steven Connor got 552 votes. These numbers came from the Comerford campaign.

“We’re starting to feel optimistic,” said Michael Aleo with the Comerford campaign earlier in the night, although he noted. “There’s still room for the gap to close.”

Later in the night, Comerford thanked her supporters, saying, “there’s no way I could have done this alone.”

Comerford, O’Donnell and Connor ran as write-in candidates for the seat.

The O’Donnell, Connor and Kline campaigns did not return calls for comment in time for deadline.

The race took shape after the resignation of the district’s longtime legislator, Stan Rosenberg, D-Amherst. Rosenberg resigned following a Senate Ethics Committee report that said he had failed to protect the senate from the behavior of his husband, Bryon Hefner. Hefner is set to go on trial for a number of charges, including sexual assault.

Rosenberg’s resignation came after the filing deadline to get on the Democratic primary ballot.

Because Kline chose to challenge Rosenberg prior to his resignation, she was the only person who appeared on Tuesday’s ballot. However, five candidates ended up stepping forward to run as write-in candidates.

Two of those candidates, University of Massachusetts Amherst employee David Morin and attorney David J. Murphy, both of Amherst, ended up dropping out of the race.

All four candidates ran as progressive Democrats. Kline noted having been a teenage mother who benefited from social welfare programs; O’Donnell noted his position as the only candidate with legislative experience; Comerford pointed to her command of policy and her longtime advocacy of progressive causes; and Connor emphasized his history of being able to help people as an area department head.

Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.