By Michael Teitelbaum, CQ Staff

Lanham, Md.— Democrat Donna Edwards , best known for defeating incumbent Rep. Albert R. Wynn in a February primary, defeated Republican Peter James in Tuesday’s special election in Maryland’s 4th District.

She will serve out the rest of Wynn’s term until early January 2009. Wynn left Congress on May 31, taking a job at a local Washington D.C. lobbying and law firm.

The first African-American woman elected to Congress in the state’s history, Edwards’ victory in the suburban Washington D.C. district will give her a head start on seniority over freshmen elected in November.

“I am just going to do a job and go work for you,” Edwards said in a speech Tuesday night at a local International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union hall.

With nearly all precincts reporting, Edwards had 80.2 percent to James' 18.2 percent.

Edwards reminisced about picnicking with her family as a young girl on the Capitol grounds. “It is so amazing to me that I am going to call that my workplace,” she said.

Edwards defeated Wynn by 22 percent Feb. 12, partly because she emphasized his close ties to a number of industries and said he received political contributions from pharmaceutical, insurance and energy companies. She attacked his support of the Iraq War, which he later renounced, and his backing of bankruptcy legislation, something she says has hurt constituents in a district with large number of foreclosures.

She nearly beat Wynn in the party’s 2006 primary, losing by 3.3 percent.

Edwards, who calls herself a “military brat,” is a community activist and attorney who has been involved in liberal causes for most of her life. She co-founded the National Network to End Domestic Violence after working to get a 1994 anti-abuse bill signed into law. Her most recent job was executive director of the Arca Foundation, a group that provides grants to various progressive causes.

Nadeam Elshami, spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., said Edwards likely will be sworn in Thursday.

Edwards said one of the first issues she plans to tackle will be to increase the minimum wage and tie it to inflation. She has also promised that until Congress enacts legislation dealing with the issue, she will donate her congressional pay raise to a scholarship fund for 4th District graduating seniors who are continuing their education. While Edwards would like to sit on the same congressional committee as Wynn — Energy and Commerce — there are no openings, so she says she would be interested in Education and Labor or Transportation and Infrastructure, both useful positions for a district with a substantial union base that also has traffic problems.

James, a high-tech consultant and inventor, was endorsed by Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul , who ran on a libertarian-style platform. James favored deep reductions in government spending, including eliminating a number of federal agencies. He opposes the Iraq War.

He faced an uphill battle from the beginning.. The district voted for John Kerry in 2004 by 78 percent to 21 percent and a Republican has not received more than 25 percent since Wynn was elected in 1992. That was the first election after redistricting created an African-American majority in the 4th.