PROVO — Real-estate developer Chris Herrod is the last member of the 2007 Utah Legislature to win a seat, outlasting John Curtis in a bizarre race that Republican Party leadership hopes never to repeat.

On Thursday, acting state GOP chairwoman Enid Greene selected Herrod as the replacement for outgoing Rep. Jeff Alexander, R-Provo. Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. signed a letter late Thursday appointing Herrod to represent House District 62.

"I'm experiencing a whole range of emotions," Herrod said. "I'm absolutely thrilled, I'm completely exhausted and I'm honored to be chosen. And part of me is sad that only one of us can serve because John worked so hard as well."

Herrod and Curtis grew increasingly close Wednesday and Thursday as the candidates shared a novel campaign.

Alexander resigned Monday to return to business and to work part-time as a consultant in the Governor's Office of Economic Development.

Although he announced his resignation before he was re-elected to a ninth term in November, leaving a full two-year term for his replacement to fill, the replacement process was treated as a midterm vacancy.

Ten candidates filed for the seat last month and campaigned for the support of 86 Republican delegates in District 62 in Provo. On Tuesday, the delegates selected Curtis over Herrod by a single vote, but Curtis didn't win the seat because Utah County Republican Party bylaws require the governor to choose between the two finalists unless one wins 60 percent of the vote.

A glitch developed Wednesday when it became clear that the state Office of Elections, Senate leadership and county party officials all had overlooked a 2004 law that removed the decision from the governor's hands.

The bylaws required the county party to send two names to the state Republican Party. State law allowed Greene to forward only one name to the governor.

A new vote of delegates couldn't be considered because it again could end with neither candidate winning 60 percent of the vote. Changing the Utah County bylaws would have taken at least a month, an untenable option since the 2007 legislative session begins in 10 days.

Greene met with the candidates Thursday morning and announced her decision that afternoon.

She also released a letter to all county party chairmen on the state party Web site —utahgop.org.

"This is a decision I did not want to make but felt obligated to make in view of the circumstances" she wrote. "It is a situation I wish never to repeat."

She asked each county party to make sure its bylaws comply with state law to fill midterm vacancies.