SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom has set a special election to fill an empty state Assembly seat.

Newsom announced Wednesday that there will be a special primary election on Aug. 27. If no one wins more than half the vote, the top two vote-getters will move to a Nov. 5 runoff election, no matter their party.

The winner will succeed Brian Dahle, a Republican assemblyman who won an empty seat in the state Senate.

Republicans are well-positioned to hold seat. Registered GOP voters outnumber Democrats in the rural district that is bigger than West Virginia and stretches from the suburbs of Sacramento to the state’s northeastern corner.

Megan Dahle, a former local school board member and wife of the newly elected state senator, says she is running for the post.