SUFFOLK-Veteran state Sen. Frederick M. Quayle, R-Suffolk, will be returning to Richmond to represent voters of District 13 for a fifth term.

Quayle, who was challenged by Portsmouth City Councilman Steve Heretick, pulled in 59 percent of votes in the 13th District, which stretches across nine localities between Portsmouth and Hopewell, including Franklin, Southampton County and Isle of Wight County. Heretick, who made an unsuccessful run for the Portsmouth Commonwealth’s Attorney in 2001, received 14,705 votes, or 41 percent, to Quayle’s 21,067, with all but one precinct in the district reporting unofficial results.

Heretick led only in Prince George County, receiving about 200 more votes than the incumbent.

One of the Quayles’s tightest victory margins was in Heretick’s hometown of Hopewell, where the Republican received 51 percent of the votes – 928 to Heretick’s 880.

Quayle kept an eye on elections results during a party at A.J. Gator’s in downtown Suffolk, surrounded by campaign workers, friends and family from across the district. After days of campaigning, Quayle, 71, said he was going to relax n for a little while anyway n before getting back to business for his constituents.

“I’m going to savor the victory for a day or two,” he said. “Then I’m going to start making plans for January.”

Quayle said the campaign against Heretick has been the most aggressive in his political career.

“I was concerned,” Quayle said. “It was tenacious. We had to stay on guard all the time.”

Quayle attributed his victory to his track record.

“I think voters are satisfied with the representation they have received for the past 16 years,” he said. “And I think they appreciate the fact that we ran a positive, upbeat campaign.”