For Mike Fitzpatrick, Bucks County’s once and future congressman, another second chance began Tuesday night.

Fitzpatrick, 47, a Republican who beat cancer two years ago, scored a decisive payback victory over U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, the Democrat who narrowly unseated him in 2006 for the Eighth District seat.

With almost all polling places reporting, Fitzpatrick held a lead of about 16,000 votes over Murphy, a two-term incumbent, in the district comprising all of Bucks County and slivers of Philadelphia and Montgomery County.

Fitzpatrick declared victory before 10:30 p.m. in front of a packed and loudly cheering crowd at Republican headquarters in Doylestown.

“It really is sweet,” he said later. “I wouldn’t have thought, four years ago, that I would be running for public office again. I didn’t think four years ago that I would battle cancer and come back, or that the unemployment rate and the national debt would have doubled. I’ve been changed by my experiences. I think I can be a better representative for the people because of what I’ve experienced.”