Party officials opted not to automatically reselect Mohammad Asghar, prompting an open contest.
On Thursday night it was announced Mr Asghar had topped the poll.
A second AM forced to follow the same procedure, William Graham, finished outside the top  four - meaning he is effectively de-selected.
Second on the list will be Laura Anne Jones, previously an AM between 2003-07.
In a statement, Mr Graham said: "Whilst I am personally disappointed that I will not be part of an expanding Welsh Conservative team after the elections in May, I remain as invested as any of my colleagues in the goal of bringing an end to this tired Labour government."
The Conservatives currently hold two of the available four seats in South Wales East.
The 60 AMs include 20 elected via regional lists, aimed to give a fairer reflection of support for each party.

At least 44 more have been injured in the crush, which was reportedly triggered by a road accident.
The pilgrims were returning from the Hindu shrine of Sabarimala, which is in a remote, mountainous, densely-forested area.
Kerala Governor R S Gavai has said he is "deeply shocked and saddened".
"We have recovered 102 bodies. The rescue work is almost over," local police official Sanjay Kumar told the Associated Press news agency.
The stampede happened at Pulmedu, near the town of Vandiperiyar in Idukki district, Indian media reported.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims had gathered at the hill shrine on Friday, the last day of an annual festival.
The festival runs for two months and attracts millions of visitors every year.
Reports differed as to exactly how the deadly crush was triggered.
The Indian PTI news agency said a jeep carrying pilgrims had driven into a crowd returning from the shrine, starting a panic.
However, the Times of India reported that the incident happened when the jeep broke down and overturned as pilgrims tried to move it.
It crushed a number of people and caused others to stumble, which then triggered the stampede, the report said.
Correspondents say deadly stampedes are not unusual at Indian temples, where huge crowds gather in small areas with few safety measures or crowd controls.
A similar tragedy happened at Sabaramila in 1999, when more than 50 people died in a stampede after a landslide on a crowded hillside.

Builders working on the BBC programme were targeted while helping with the project in West Bromwich. Show bosses said three vans have been hit in the past week.
Volunteers are transforming the family home of a mother who died from cancer.
Presenter Nick Knowles tweeted on Wednesday to say he was "really disappointed" by the thefts.
The programme is extending the home of Sandra Chambers, who has looked after her two grandchildren since the death of their mother Crystal in October 2015.
See more stories from across Birmingham and the Black Country here
Show bosses said two vans - a Peugeot and a Ford -  were broken into on Wednesday morning and tools taken.
On Thursday a Mercedes Sprinter was also broken into, but nothing was stolen. The thefts have been reported to West Midlands Police.
End of Twitter post  by @MrNickKnowles
Mr Knowles' tweet prompted a local Peugeot dealership to get in touch and he later thanked them for their help, as well as another person who gave Â£30 to cover repairs.
The project to extend the house is being completed by the DIY SOS team and an army of volunteers, including local tradespeople and neighbours, in a nine-day build.
A Conservative AM forced to face a ballot of party members has come top of the South Wales East regional list for the 2016 assembly election.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
Officials say 102 pilgrims have been killed in a stampede at a religious festival in the southern Indian state of Kerala.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
Thieves broke into vans and stole tools being used by a team working on a life-changing project for TV show DIY SOS.