WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A special election to replace Rep. Charlie Norwood, the Georgia Republican who passed away last week, will be held on June 19, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue said Thursday in an issued statement.

Norwood died on February 13 after battling idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and non-small cell lung cancer. He was 65.

Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, expressed confidence the GOP will hang on to Georgia's 19th district.

"This district has overwhelmingly elected Republican candidates to public office time and again, and this special election will prove to be no different," Cole said in a statement issued Thursday.

"The district's conservative values and solid Republican tradition should make any Democrat think twice before jumping into this race," he added.