NASHVILLE (AP) — Small business owner Shane Reeves has topped former state Rep. Joe Carr in the Republican primary of a Tennessee Senate special election.

According to the Tennessee secretary of state's unofficial results, Reeves tallied 64.9 percent of Thursday's vote, or 4,720 votes, compared to Carr's 35.1 percent, or 2,556 votes.

Reeves will face farmer and lawyer Gayle Jordan in the March general election. The Rutherford County Democrat was unopposed in the primary.

Republican Senate Speaker Randy McNally praised Reeves, of Murfreesboro, as "a true man of faith and conservative principles."

The winner will fill the Senate District 14 vacancy left by former Sen. Jim Tracy, a Republican who accepted a job as state director for the Rural Development office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.