Harold Johnson won Tuesday's Republican primary runoff for the 8th District.

here in Scotland County, the former Charlotte sportscaster beat Republican opponent Tim D’Annunzio by six votes. According to unofficial returns by the Scotland County Board of Elections, Johnson garnered 121 votes to 115 votes cast for D'Annunzio, a Raeford businessman.

"Everything went very smooth... just low turnout," Dell Parker, director of the Scotland County Board of Elections, said Tuesday night.

Johnson, who turns 69 next week, won about 61 percent of the vote district wide according to unofficial returns. He piled up big margins in the district's western portion, including Cabarrus County, which offset D'Annunzio's support in the east.

Johnson now faces Democratic U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell and Libertarian Thomas Hill in the 10-county district that stretches from Charlotte to Fayetteville.

"I'm just humbled," Johnson said. "Obviously (voters) looked at Tim and they looked at me and they said, 'Which candidate can best represent us in Washington?'"

D'Annunzio, a self-made millionaire who attracted support from tea party activists, said he wouldn't congratulate Johnson nor would he endorse him. He spoke to reporters outside his Raeford home.

"I cannot endorse his tactics, and I can't endorse his lack of morality he exhibited through this run," D'Annunzio said.

The weeks after the primary were characterized by negative campaign advertisements in which Johnson attacked D'Annunzio's past. D'Annunzio, a former member of the Army Golden Knights, fired back with a defamation lawsuit accusing Johnson of distorting the truth. In one of Johnson's ads, a narrator said D'Annunzio "has finally admitted his past and wants us to dismiss a life of drugs, crime and time served in prison as a youthful indiscretion."

The campaign turned nasty after divorce and child support documents from Hoke County portrayed D'Annunzio as a "religious zealot" who was addicted to heroin as a teenager and left the Army when he was caught with marijuana. After the documents became publicized, state Republican Party Chairman Tom Fetzer accused D'Annunzio of being "unfit for public office," and the entire GOP congressional delegation from North Carolina announced that it would support Johnson. Former 8th District Congressman Robin Hayes also threw his support to Johnson, who has no previous political experience.

The negative publicity seemed to turn voters against D'Annunzio. In the May primary, D'Annunzio was the top vote getter in Scotland County. He led with 36.84 percent of the vote, followed by Harold Johnson, who took 33.06 percent of the vote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.