A cousin of Luigi Mangione is heading back to the Baltimore County Council after a nail-biter of an election.

Republican Nino Mangione won the District 5 seat on Tuesday night by a slim margin.

Nino pulled in 49% of the vote. His Democratic challenger Shawn McIntosh finished with 45%.

Crime on the agenda

One of the first issues listed on Nino's campaign website is violent crime.

"Violent crime is increasing in Baltimore County," the campaign wrote. The site goes on to say residents hear about "another random act of violence against our citizens" every day.

The campaign also claims murders and shootings along with carjackings and robberies have reached record levels.

His political path

Before joining the council Nino spent seven years as a state lawmaker in the Maryland House of Delegates, starting in 2019.

He has only been on the county council for about five months. Republicans picked him in June to fill an open seat.

Luigi's case

The win comes only days after Luigi's lawyers asked a New York state court to throw out the case against him. They argued it amounts to double jeopardy.

In August Luigi pleaded guilty to two federal stalking charges resulting in death. Those charges are tied to the death of Brian Thompson, who ran UnitedHealthcare.