GRAND FORKS, North Dakota (AP) -- While Maj. Mike McNamara was in Iraq, his family handled much of his city council campaign for him: They handed out fliers, held a campaign rally and put up signs around town.

Meanwhile, he answered voters' questions from Falluja by e-mail.

The strategy paid off this week when the Marine reservist won a seat on the Grand Forks City Council. McNamara, 48, beat four other candidates with 49 percent of the vote in the city's second ward, despite serving thousands of miles away.

McNamara said he will take part in council meetings via speakerphone until he returns to North Dakota in about 90 days. He said he could not have won the race without his family, and he would encourage others serving in Iraq to run for office.

"When I grew up, everyone was a veteran and they really, truly understood what service to the nation was," he said by phone from Iraq, where he works in a combat operations center. "The country is straying from that. When you come here and see young men get killed, and the terrible ways they get killed, it consecrates democracy for you."

McNamara, son of former Boston Red Sox manager John McNamara, said he is not affiliated with a political party. He has served a total of 15 months in two tours of duty in Iraq...