Exciting Republican in charge after vote (8)
I believe the answer is:
electric
'exciting' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'republican in charge after vote' is the wordplay.
'republican' becomes 'r' (abbreviation).
'in charge' becomes 'ic' (abbreviation for 'in charge').
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'vote' becomes 'elect'.
'r'+'ic'='ric'
'ric' put after 'elect' is 'ELECTRIC'.
(Other definitions for electric that I've seen before include "Thrilling (fig.)" , "Thrillingly exciting" , "as fans may be?" , "Current for heating, lighting etc" , "sort of guitar?" .)